A Warmth in Winter
by mutedsymphony
Summary: With the return of winter, one year after Pitch Black's defeat, Jack finds himself drawn to the new girl in Burgess. Troubled by past events she had no control of, Maleya does her best to get by in a place that is cold and boring... Until unexpected things happen and Maleya finds herself the focus of two opposing parties. But what's so special about her? Jack x OC
1. Chapter 1

Maleya exhaled loudly as she dropped the final cardboard box onto the floor. It gave a loud thump when it hit the ground, and she flinched as she thought of her dear books.

"Sorry…" she mumbled quietly, before falling back on her unmade bed. She sighed out loud, stretching her aching arms and rolling her shoulders backwards. It had been a long day, but finally all the boxes were in place. She could hear the moving truck outside reversing and her father yelling out 'thank yous' to the two kind men who'd helped them with the heavier furniture.

She puffed out a quick breath that blew away stray strands from her eyes. Her family had just moved to the small town of Burgess. A lovely town with nice people, but Maleya could already tell it was going to be boring as hell.

Just then, a cold breeze flew in from her open window that her mother had left to air the room. Maleya shivered as she got up to close and lock it. Not only was it going to be boring, it was going to be freezing.

Ruffling the underside of her frizzy ginger hair, she sighed as she took in the sight of her room. It was actually quite big, but looked crowded with all the boxes and un-mantled furniture. The walls had been painted a light pastel green, and the floor was carpeted. Maleya's toes curled happily against the feeling. It had always been a dream of hers to have a carpeted room.

"Mallie, it's lunch!" a mop of dark hair popped out from behind the half-closed door. It was David, Maleya's eight-year old brother. "Mom got us pizza!" he yelled enthusiastically before disappearing downstairs. She could hear loud thumps as he made his way down the stairs.

"David, what did we say about running down the stairs?" Maleya's father's voice boomed. She laughed as she imagined the abashed look on her brother's face. Trying to tame her wild locks again, Maleya went into her en suite bathroom to wash up before heading down at a decidedly calmer pace than David.

"Yay. Pizza. Again…," she muttered weakly when she was a couple of meters away from the kitchen. This was going to be a long week.

The weekend had finally arrived and the O'Connor house was more or less "descent". They had spent hours of work unpacking the boxes and fixing up all the shelves and tables, and now only a few stray boxes were left, but those weren't urgent.

It was already the end of summer and school would begin next week, so David vowed to make the most of what was left of the holiday. He was out in the garden trying to catch butterflies with a fish net. Maleya sat on the balcony of her room in a cozy swing seat. She was burritoed in two blankets, with tea and a new book on her lap. The hose of the shisha that was on the side table was practically glued to her mouth as she took a few puffs while reading. This was the ideal way for her to spend a nice sunny day, though she would have much preferred if it had been a few degrees warmer. She dreaded the temperatures that winter would bring.

Putting the pipe momentarily aside and looking out at the yard, she saw her brother try to catch a particularly pretty butterfly that had been resting on some lavender plants. When that failed, he turned his attention towards a different one, and Maleya frowned.

"Don't touch that one, David! It's red-listed!" She yelled to him, and he looked up to her in disappointment, his shoulders dropping.

"Aw! But it's so pretty!" he objected, and she shrugged.

"So are all the other ones!" She argued, and he went back to chasing the previous butterfly.

Maleya sighed contently and leaned back into the comfy seat. She looked over the railings to the house nearby and saw two children looking at her and her brother from their window. One was a boy, about David's age, with brown hair, while the other one seemed to be a young girl with badly chopped blonde hair.

Maleya lifted a hand tentatively and waved at the boy who caught her gaze. He grinned back sheepishly and waved back with such enthusiasm she thought his hand would fly off his wrist.

She smiled and pointed down to the yard, motioning for them to come over. The boy got the hint and grabbed the girl by the arm before disappearing deeper inside his house.

Making sure the shisha wouldn't tip over, she de-bundled herself from her blankets and made her way inside. She grabbed her autumn coat before heading downstairs. Her brother greeted her outside with a butterfly in his hands.

"Look, Mallie! I caught one!" he shouted enthusiastically, almost jumping from excitement.

Before Maleya could reply, the neighbours arrived and were waiting shyly at the edge of the lawn.

"Hello," Maleya greeted. "Do you want to see the butterfly, too?" she asked uncertainly, not really good around other children. But new friends for David would be great, especially ones that lived next door. Said David whirled around suddenly, a look of shock on his face that quickly changed into a wide grin.

"Look!" he encouraged.

"Butterfly!" the little girl with blonde hair said, before hopping over to them. The boy, whom Maleya guessed was her brother, also came over to them, and they all huddled around the brown creature in David's palm.

"Do you know what it is?" David asked Maleya, and she smiled, nodding once.

"That's a Frosted Elfin. They're quite rare up here, you know. You're lucky I didn't see you chasing it or I would have yelled at you," Maleya said, though there was nothing but amusement in her voice. "Make sure you set it free after you're done, yeah?"

"Of course!" David replied, rolling his eyes. He looked at the boy next to him. "My sister is such a know-it-all when it comes to plants and animals. It can be really annoying sometimes."

"Thanks," Maleya said sarcastically. "This is my brother David, and I'm his 'annoying sister' Maleya," she continued, looking at the two children. The little girl laughed as the Elfin took off, nearly hitting her in the face in the progress.

"Nice to meet you!" the brown-haired boy said politely. "I'm Jamie, and this is my sister Sophie."

"Do you want to check out my new room?" David asked expectantly, nearly bouncing with energy. The butterfly leaving had no effect on him whatsoever.

"Sure!" Jamie said, and Sophie nodded so vigorously that her blonde hair was bobbing all over the place. David looked at his sister, and Maleya smiled.

"Have fun," she said, giving them permission. Their parents were in town, doing some grocery shopping, so she'd been in charge of watching over David.

She followed them inside, listening as David ranted on about what he'd been doing today and what toys they could play with. Maleya decided to get some snacks ready for them, just for fun, and began making lemonade and placing cookies on a small plate. It was after lunch-time, so she hoped it would be okay with Jamie and Sophie's parents.

A few minutes passed before she made her way up the steps and to her brother's room, tray in hand. The room was surprisingly calm, and when she stepped in, she saw the three children sitting close together on David's bed, made up with his beloved rocket-ship themed comforter. Jamie was sitting in the middle, a large, worn book in his hand. She saw his backpack in the corner of the room and wondered if he carried that book with him everywhere. It looked pretty used.

"No way," David's extremely solemn gasp escaped his lips before Maleya could offer them something to eat.

"Yes way," came Jamie's equally serious reply. "And if you go on their website, you can even see videos of them!" He continued, pointing at something in the book. Suddenly curious, Maleya put down the tray and made her way to the bed, seating herself beside Sophie.

"Butterfly!" was Sophie's acknowledgement of Maleya. She seemed happy to see Maleya, and the older teen couldn't help but smile.

"What are we looking at?" Maleya asked, and Jamie tilted the book in her direction.

"Giant Sloth-like Men in the Amazon!" Jamie exclaimed, pointing to an entry in the book about said creature. Large red letters on the side declared that the reader should visit a certain webpage to see 'REAL LIFE VIDEOS'. A small smile tugged on her mouth.

_Yeah. The Fiji mermaid all over again…_

"They're sending a team of experts to check it out soon!" Jamie continued, before flipping over to the next page. This one was simply titled 'Yeti'.

"Phil!" Sophie exclaimed, pointing one chubby finger at one of the black and white drawings that someone seemed to have taped into the book. "Big, big, big!" She cried out, spreading her hands out and upwards animatedly.

David furrowed his brows as he tried to read. "Yeti?"

"Yeah, like Big Foot. But they live in the North Pole," Jamie explained. Maleya's eyebrows rose up in surprise. North Pole? That was rich.

"What are they doing there?" David asked with honest curiosity. Maleya had to stop herself from giggling at how serious the two boys looked.

"They help North with making Christmas presents," Jamie exclaimed, and then, with an almost know-it-all look, he added: "That's Santa's real name, by the way. North."

"Huh," was David's reply as he looked at the drawing. "I thought the elves did that."

"There would be no Christmas if they did! They can't do much, but North lets them think they do!"

Shaking her head, Maleya stood up again and cleared her throat. "I got you kids some lemonade and cookies. I'll be sitting in my bedroom with the door open, so holler if you need anything." And with that, she watched the kids scramble for said cookies and lemonade before she dashed to her room across the hall, laughing at their reactions.

"Thank you, Maleya!" Jamie's voice shouted after her.

_Well, at least _someone_ appreciated her effort_, she thought, hearing loud chewing and gulping from all the way in her room.

* * *

A/N: Welcome to my new fanfic! I am completely in love with the Guardians of Childhood universe and am infatuated with Jack Frost, so I decided on finally publishing a story after watching the movie four times!

I am quite slow when it comes to updating. Please do leave reviews though! They really help motivate me! Thanks for reading and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is most welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey again! Here's the second chapter. Not a lot of action, but I don't want to jump straight into it. Jack will be appearing in the next chapter (half way done with it!) and I have a basic plot outlined in my head. There won't be much Mallie/Jack interaction for a few chapters, but hopefully you'll be able to put up with that!**

**Thanks for the faves and follows! Please review! Enjoy!**

* * *

Despite the fact that Mallie had curled up on her bed in the corner of the room farthest from her door, she could still hear the children exchanging and marveling at stories about different fairy tale characters.

She couldn't believe the two Bennett (their last name which she learned later on) children had such a colourful imagination. She heard Jamie describing a short mute golden man who was supposed to be Sandman that talked with popping images over his head. He talked about North who was a tall, big- but surprisingly not very fat- _Russian _man with 'Naughty' and 'Nice' tattoos on his forearm.

That one had made her giggle. Tattoos? Russian? Dear lord…

And then there was the supposed Tooth Fairy, who was apparently covered in feathers and had a tendency to hover over your mouth and evaluate your teeth.

"And Baby Tooth!" She heard Sophie exclaim, to which Jamie responded, very seriously: "That's right, Soph."

Sophie couldn't have been more than a few years old and was beginning to start stringing together sentences of her own. Mallie listened to her almost heartbreakingly adorable attempts at describing a "Bunny" man who was 'Big, big, big' and 'FLUFFY'. Jamie had filled the rest of the details in. Boomerang. Australian (_Australian?!). _Easter.

And finally, there was Jack Frost, who was responsible for Jamie losing his tooth last winter after a sled-ride that put amusement parks to shame.

Maleya sighed, running a hand through her frizzy locks, which happened to be a bad idea as her fingers caught in all the tangles. Painfully pulling her hand out of her deathtrap of hair, she sighed again, looking down at her book. She had been trying to read different hypotheses on how action potentials- and later on- the electric discharges of electric eels had evolved. It should have been simple enough, but the distraction from the other room made it hard for her to focus.

Throwing her book across her bed, she reached for another one from her bedside table. This one was an easier task, as it involved more pictures. Seeing as she'd never lived so far north before, she figured she should get used to the animals that lived here and how to identify their tracks.

That was Maleya's one true dream in life- to become a world-renown biologist. Her passion for animals and plants and desire to learn how they functioned and interacted was something that she had been born with. Her parents both had no idea where she'd gotten it from, since her mother was a businesswoman and her father was a real estate agent. It wasn't a job that they were both very pleased about her pursuing. Veterinarian? Maybe. But a tree-hugging girl facing the goodness-knows-what dangers of the field? Not so much. And it was the field that she longed for. She wanted to be a green biologist, not a white one locked in a lab all the time.

Her moment of productiveness was cut short when she heard a car outside blaring its horn. She sighed, putting her book down. That was her mother's way of asking the children to come down and help out with bringing the groceries in.

"Mommy!" David had yelled, running down the steps. Jamie and Sophie were left in his room, looking rather surprised. She walked over to the door and smiled at them.

"Parents are home. You should come meet them," Mallie said, and they nodded following her downstairs in a less dangerous manner than David.

"One day, young man, you are going to trip and hurt yourself," came their father's voice from the kitchen. He had just put down a paper bag of groceries on the counter and was ready to head back outside for another one.

"Hey," Mallie greeted her father, walking around David and putting on her slippers before going out herself. He'd smiled at her, but that was it.

Her mother was at the trunk of the car, trying to get a good grip on one particularly big bag.

"Hey," Mallie repeated, this time to her mother. Mrs. O Connor did nothing to acknowledge her daughter except turn and drop the bag on her hands suddenly.

"Take this one," she said, before turning to get the next one.

Mallie did as she was told. It was heavy and awkward to hold, but she managed, and she did not think twice about her mother's behaviour. It had always been like this. It always would be.

When everything was inside the kitchen and at their destined places- pantry, fridge, freezer, etc., Mallie's parents finally gave the Bennett kids the proper welcome they deserved. Her mother looked positively in love with Sophie, and kept ruffling her hair.

"Why don't you two stay for dinner?" she asked, smiling sweetly at the two of them. Mallie felt almost a twinge of envy in her guts.

Her mother was, in all honesty, drop dead gorgeous. With long black hair and an olive-toned hue, Myriam O' Connor's Mediterranean ancestry shone through despite her family having lived in this part of the world for generations. She was slim and always looked so professional with her clean and ironed blazers and pencil skirts. Since today was an "off-day" she wore loose fitting trousers instead, and her hair tumbled down her shoulders in loose waves.

That was probably the one thing Mallie envied the most- her hair. As Jamie smiled politely and explained that he'd promised Mrs. Bennett that he'd be home in time for supper, Mallie glanced over at her father, who was cutting up carrots on a cutting board. He had some Irish blood, and Mallie had inherited his bright ginger hair. He had a short beard and dark framed glasses. He was a gentle person, but his deep voice made him seem scary and intimidating.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Mallie looked back at Jamie and Sophie. "I'll take you kids home," she offered, and Jamie grinned up at her while Sophie skipped to Maleya's side and grabbed her hand.

"I'll be back soon," Maleya announced, and her father nodded. David asked if he could tag along, but their mother insisted he go wash up and get ready for dinner instead.

"There's plenty of time to play tomorrow," she told him sternly, and with a defeated sigh he waved to his new friends and trudged slowly to the guest bathroom to wash up.

Mallie held the door open as the Bennett kids walked out. The sun was setting already. The days were getting shorter and shorter…

"So, do you have any idea if you'll be in the same school as David?" she asked Jamie, her left arm swinging involuntarily because of Sophie, who continued to skip.

"Yeah! Though I think I'm one grade higher than him," Jamie said, looking down. "Doesn't mean we can't hang out at breaks and lunch time, though!"

"That's great. I'm glad he's made friends already," Mallie said, smiling at him. She looked down at Sophie, who was staring aimlessly around her, deep in thought. "And how about you, Sophie? Are you excited about school?"

"School's gross," she said, and Mallie couldn't help but laugh. "Bunny said he'd get me present if I did good," she continued.

"Bunny?" Mallie asked, not really getting it.

"Bunnymund! Hop, hop, hop!" Sophie yelled, taking a short break from skipping to give three hops.

"The Easter Bunny," Jamie said, as though that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ah, right," Mallie answered, carefully stepping over the low bushes that surrounded her lawn. They walked around to the front door of the Bennett's house, and Jamie opened the door.

"Jamie! Sophie! There you are!" Mrs. Bennett's voice greeted them. She was a very pretty woman with hair the same colour as Jamie's. "Oh, and you brought a friend!" she said, suddenly stepping into view. "Hello! I'm Joanna," she introduced herself, and Mallie took her hand.

"I'm Maleya," she reciprocated, feeling slightly shy. "We just moved in to the house next door," she explained and Mrs. Bennett gave her a warm smile.

"Well then, welcome to the neighborhood! I hope you'll like it here," she said before looking down at her kids. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, so get ready!" She commanded and the two kids took off. Further down the hall, Mallie saw what looked like a greyhound jump on poor Sophie. It licked her face with such enthusiasm that Mallie wondered if she should notify Mrs. Bennett.

"You're welcome to stay, of course!" said Mrs. Bennett offered.

"Oh, that's kind of you. We're actually about to have dinner as well. Jamie and Sophie said they'd promised to be back home at around this time, so I thought I'd walk them back," Mallie explained, and Mrs. Bennett looked genuinely disappointed.

"Well, thank you for taking care of them," she said and Mallie nodded.

"No problem. My brother is about Jamie's age. They all seemed to have a good time." Just then, something began beeping in the kitchen and Mrs. Bennett's eyes widened.

"Ooh, that's the timer! I have to get going then, but I'll make sure to drop by and say hello to you and the rest of your family!" Mrs. Bennett promised and Mallie grinned and said her goodbyes, before walking back out to the street. She heard the door shut behind her and waited a few seconds before exhaling loudly.

Well, that had been nerve-wracking.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I got two wonderful reviews for the last chapter. Thank you so much! Here's the next one... Oh, and did any of you get the "Giant Sloth Men" reference in the first chapter? ;] **

**No? Okay. Onwards then. **

* * *

Jack Frost flew higher up and hovered above the clouds, looking down at his creation. The town was dusted over in light snow, people were sliding on the icy roads and the children were already out in their coats trying to make the most of what was left of winter.

He gave a satisfactory 'Hmm' and then looked at the clouds. He still had a few weeks of work left for the southern hemisphere, but he missed his best friend- and first believer- and decided a visit was long overdue.

Instantly, the wind picked up and he grabbed his staff tighter. _Take me home, Wind. _He only had to think that and before he knew it, he was flying at top speed, on his way home.

He couldn't keep in the shouts of glee that escaped his mouth. He had done this so many times, but it felt more and more amazing each time.

And just like that, the wind calmed down and he unconsciously took over, floating down to a rooftop. He looked around and found himself in the familiar city of Burgess- his home.

It was late afternoon and with autumn just around the corner, it was actually quite chilly. Good news for him.

Effortlessly gliding from roof to roof, he made his way to the part of town that Jamie Bennett lived in. He spotted the Bennett's home but something stopped him from going there directly.

He felt a strange sensation strike him like an invisible gust of wind. At first, he wondered if he imagined it, but the feeling lingered on his fingertips. He felt something almost electric, and half-expected to see sparks when he looked at his hands. A pins-and-needles sort of feeling took over, but only on his right hand.

He thought he was going crazy, but… It felt almost like he was being pulled.

Looking to the right, he didn't see anything of particular interest. Few people were out on the streets- school was going back in session soon (Jack had lost count of the exact days…), and most children were probably inside getting ready for a good meal and a good night's rest.

Curiosity piqued, Jack floated to the right and tried to follow the sensation. He arrived in front of the house beside Jamie's, and cocked his head to the side. What was so special about this house?

He flew around it a couple of times, checking it out before deciding that perhaps the people inside the house were what was causing him to feel strange. Gently lowering himself down to ground level, his feet never touching the ground, he hovered over a window. It was the kitchen and the lights were on. He looked inside and saw a family of three- He saw a woman with long, black hair, a man whose hair almost looked like fire, and then a young boy that was about Jamie's age.

Grinning, Jack wondered if the two of them had met yet.

But the feeling hadn't gone away. The grin vanished and his eyebrows furrowed. He went around the house once more, and then finally tried the windows on the upper level. Most were unlit and empty, but he stopped at the glass door of the room that faced Jamie's, hovering over the balcony.

A lamp in the corner of the room was lit and Jack saw the silhouette of a girl lying down on her belly, her feet crossed in the air. As soon as he laid eyes on her, the tingling feeling spread all over him before vanishing suddenly.

Without really knowing why, he looked up at the moon. More specifically, the Man in Moon, and his expression said it all.

A_ What the hell is this, Manny? _kind of expression.

But of course, MiM did not really care to answer.

"As usual," Jack sighed bitterly, before redirecting his gaze at the girl. He froze when he realized the girl was looking at him, looking completely still.

Without thinking, he ducked, trying to hide his face from the window. _She can see me! She can see me! _He panicked.

Wait… why was he panicking?

He lifted himself up slightly again and saw the girl- who looked to be about his age, slide her legs off the bed and make her way to the window. She stopped right in front of it, tracing her fingers on the glass. Jack's presence had left frost marks all over them, and she studied them silently.

A few moments passed before she decided to open the sliding door and take a look outside at the setting sun. If she simply turned her head to the side slightly, she would see Jack hovering a few inches above her balcony.

"Hello," Jack started, feeling suddenly nervous for some reason.

But she didn't look at him. She looked at the horizon and let the breeze air her room for a few moments before she sighed and closed the window.

Jack felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"She hadn't seen me…" he whispered sadly, before shaking his head. Of course, she hadn't! If most kids who still believed in Santa Claus and the others couldn't see him, then why would he expect anything differently from an older teenager?

But there had been something about her… he wasn't sure what it was. He felt almost like Manny was trying to tell him something, but he didn't know what it was. And frankly, he was growing tired of MiMs games and riddles.

"Whatever," he said, deciding to push the image of the girl with the super crazy perm to the back of his head. Instead, he'd do what he originally came here for.

...

_Tap, tap._

Jamie looked up and his face lit up at the sight of his good friend, Jack. He scrambled to the window, letting the Winter Spirit in. A cold breeze followed him in, but Jamie was used to that. He wrapped his arms around Jack before he had a chance to say anything.

"I missed you!" Jamie confessed, his voice muffled by Jack's hoodie.

"I missed you, too, buddy!" Jack chuckled, giving Jamie a squeeze back and then ruffling his hair. "How's your summer been?"

"Great!" Jamie replied, taking a step back. "But it's over so quickly! I start school tomorrow and-"

"Wait, tomorrow?" Jack interrupted- surprised. He hadn't realized he'd been _that_ bad at keeping count of the days.

"Yeah!" Jamie said, sitting on his bed. "But you know what the best part is? I think I got some of my friends to believe in you!" Jamie said, skipping to the part he thought Jack would be most interested in.

Jack's ears almost literally perked at this. "Really?"

"Yeah! And we built a treehouse last month and then we went swimming by the lake and I met David a few days ago and we went hiking with his sister, but before that Caleb and Claude's parents took me camping in July and we roasted marshmellows-"

"Woah, woah! Slow down," Jack said, trying to stifle a laugh. Jamie had been talking so fast he hadn't been able to make out most of what he'd said. "It's almost time for winter in this part of the world, so we'll have plenty of time to catch up on everything you did this summer," he assured him, and Jamie grinned.

"So, maybe we could start with this week?" Jack offered, and Jamie nodded, pointing at his window.

"We got new neighbours!" Jamie announced. "David is one year younger than me and we're going to the same school!" he said proudly. "Different classes though, since I'm older…" there was almost a hint of a gloat there, but Jack let it slide.

"Oh? And is he a believer?" Jack asked, grinning.

"He is! And he's super excited to meet you! He's never seen snow before!" Jamie said, a look of utter astonishment crossing his face.

Jack tried to imitate it. "What? Never seen snow before? We're going to have to do something about that!"

"Right?! That's what I said!" Jamie laughed.

"Jamie! Who are you talking to?" Mrs Bennett's voice called from downstairs.

"Just Jack Frost!" Jamie replied quickly, and his mom gave her usual chuckle and 'okay!'.

"…Maybe we should try to keep it down a bit, huh?" Jack managed to whisper after a moment of silence.

"…Maybe," Jamie seemed to agree.

"So, never seen snow before, huh?" Jack tried again, much more quiet.

And so began a long conversation where Jamie enthused about his summer and Jack talked about the nightmarish storms he'd bestowed upon the southern hemisphere- all in good fun of course. "I think I'll give them a few days off before going out with a big bang!" Jack laughed.

Jamie wondered what sort of plans he was having for his side of the world…

"Does that mean you'll stick around for a few days?" Jamie asked, his eyes widening with anticipation.

"Sure does!" Jack replied, flashing his usual smirk. "I want to meet the new kid and make sure you get a good start in school," he said, winking.

It took a while for Jamie to calm down enough to go to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Maleya gave a frustrated sigh as she threw her backpack on her bed. It was only the second day of school and she was already sick of it. The weather had been especially cold recently, which had dampened her mood no matter how hard she tried to stay positive.

Her problem was the people. Since Burgess was such a small town, everyone was close knit and had known each other practically since birth. And here comes Mallie, the new and slightly socially awkward girl. It wasn't that she was being bullied- not yet anyway, but she figured that might start happening any minute now- but no one acknowledged her. She was the one making the effort to talk to people, even though it was really difficult for her, and no one was really giving her a chance.

With exaggerated force, she took off her shoes and threw them at the door. Her parents were going to take her brother out after he finished school so she'd have the place to herself for a while. She could make a mess if she wanted to, she told herself with a huff.

Putting on a pair of warmer pants and her hiking boots, she grabbed a flora book and magnifying glass (plus her winter jacket… despite it being the beginning of September) and went outside for an hour of self-indulgence.

Jack was lounging about, creating frost patterns on unsuspecting trees and windows. Jamie was at school and wouldn't be home for a while, so he did what he could to pass time.

That was, until he saw one of Jamie's neighbours leave the house. Before he could squint for a better look, he knew it was her. The tingling sensation was back in his fingers and he felt himself being drawn to her once again. Looking up at the sun, he deduced that he still had some time left before Jamie was back, so he figured he could kill some time with this new girl.

She had a mess of frizzy red curls that reached past her shoulders. They bounced as she walked with a determined gaze towards the back of the house and into the forest. Jack thought she looked kind of pissed.

"That's no fun…" he said to no one in particular, before he continued to follow her.

She walked for about 20 minutes before she suddenly ducked. Jack almost few right into her, but managed to stop before going through her. She didn't believe in him so she couldn't touch him, but it still felt extremely uncomfortable and actually quite painful for him when someone walked through him.

He made his way around her and bent down in front of her. She was looking at a plant, muttering to herself. It looked like a regular dandelion to Jack.

"_Leontodon autumnalis_…" he heard her whisper and one of his eyebrows cocked immediately. _The what…?_

Standing up quickly, she continued her way forward, stepping through Jack. Jack shuddered at the feeling. It was horrible. He had to be more alert to that.

But the tingling sensation burst inside him again, covering his whole body before disappearing once more. He watched her write something in the book she was holding.

"So cold…" he heard her mutter, before she kneeled down again a few meters ahead.

"_Oxalis acetosella…"_ she said out loud, before picking up one of the leaves and putting it in her mouth.

Jack couldn't help but wonder if she was on crack.

He didn't know her name yet, just that her brother was called David. He figured that would be a good thing to ask when he saw Jamie.

She walked on and looked at a large tree, running her hands over the papery bark.

"Hmm…" she thought aloud, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember something.

"Uh… Birch?" Jack tried to contribute, looking at the tree and then at the girl.

"_Betula papyrifera!"_ she suddenly exclaimed.

"I get that we all have our different ideas of fun, but I don't see how this is any fun at all," Jack said, knowing he wouldn't hear her. She still had her hand on the tree, and he grinned mischievously before tapping the tree with his staff gently. She doesn't like the cold, huh?

In a flash, small tendrils of frost formed over the peeling bark, just touching her fingers. She pulled away suddenly, as if in shock. "…The hell?!"

"Exactly what I've been thinking for the past five minutes!" Jack replied, chuckling at her expression. "Now _this_ is fun."

She didn't seem to agree. Instead, she turned on her heels and made her way forward. She barely missed Jack as he scooted out of her way, sighing in relief when he made no contact with her.

She walked silently for a few minutes, looking at the book in her hand every now and then. She stopped at one point and looked at animal tracks in the mud. Her forehead creased.

"That's a big dog," she mumbled, kneeling down and placing her hands on the mud next to the print. It was larger than her hand.

Jack watched as her eyebrows furrowed, casting a shadow over her slanting brown eyes. Her skin was a tanned olive colour, and he could tell she was used to a warmed climate. She cocked her head to the side as ideas raced through her head, and Jack almost smiled as her hair bounced at the movement and curtained her face completely.

Just as she huffed loudly to remove strands of red from her eyes, something started beeping obnoxiously loud in her pocket. Fumbling for her phone, she finally took it out and winced at the Caller ID.

Jack didn't have to lean in close to hear the voice of a woman raising her voice at the girl.

"Where are you?" The woman asked impatiently. No hellos. No nothing. Straight to the point.

"Forest," the girl replied bluntly.

"Why didn't you leave a note?" The other woman, whom Jack suspected now to be her mother, pressed.

"I didn't think you'd be home so soon. Thought I'd be back before you came back."

"Well, I'm home now. Come back to the house. David needs looking after," she practically commanded, and the girl sighed.

"Yes. I'm heading home now," she said. Jack heard a click from the phone and assumed the other end had hung up. With one last look at the footprints, the girl turned around and headed in the direction of her house.

Jack lingered back, suddenly feeling very curious. He had never cared much about older teens and adolescents, since they weren't exactly "children" anymore. They did not have the same sense of fun that he did and they were past the normal age of believing. By then, society had probably hammered them down with science and logic.

This girl didn't seem to be anything special. She hated the cold. And sure, she came off as a wackjob with an interest in showing off her skills in taxonomy to… well, herself, but other than that there was nothing that should be drawing Jack to her.

Except for this feeling that he had.

He'd never experienced anything like it. It wasn't something he could put his finger on. Maybe he could describe it remotely as being like a magnet, and the feeling he got when she'd walked through him was peculiar. He'd never gotten such a reaction before.

He had to find out why this was happening. What was so special about her that he couldn't see?

Perhaps it was time to visit the North Pole.

Phil the Yeti had not been too pleased when Jack Frost showed up unannounced at Nicholas Saint North's workshop. Despite Jack's fervent attempts to explain that he had a very good reason to be there, Phil bought none of it.

"I get that you live in the North Pole, but why do you have to be so _cold_ to me, Phil my man?" Jack tried coaxing instead. "I can wait right here and you tell North that I have some pretty important stuff to talk to him about."

Phil just stood his place and rolled his eyes, grunting noises that almost sounded like: "Yeah, right."

"Have it your way then!" Jack replied, before banging his staff against the cold, tiled floor. A burst of ice shot out in all directions and trapped Phil's hairy feet (Paws? What did Yetis have anyway?).

Jack smirked victoriously and made a move to zip through the front gates, but the Yeti was not deterred. Showing abnormal strength, Phil raised his knees one at a time and a crunch could be heard as he dislodged his feet/paws from Jack's handiwork.

"Oh, boy," Jack exhaled just before a giant hand/paw swiped at him and grabbed the back of his frosted blue hoodie. "Uh… Phil, let's talk about this…" He began nervously, thinking the Yeti was going to pummel him like a punching bag or hand him to the elves to have their way with him.

Taking one look at Phil's free limb, he realized: Yes, Yetis have hands.

To his luck, Phil simply turned around and marched right through the gates. He continued his way towards the elevator, down to where all the Yetis were working, and then up to North's personal workshop.

Without knocking, Phil opened the door and Jack was surprised to see not only the large, sturdy Russian man- but also a certain oversized rabbit.

"I'm giving you one last chance to talk some sense into him before I deal with him personally," Bunnymund said with such venom that Jack immediately knew they were talking about him.

"Vhat have I said about knocking!?" North had bellowed, his back still towards the door.

Phil began babbling and motioning towards the guardian that hung- looking quite bemused- from his lateral.

"Hey, guys!" Jack greeted, a bit too cheerfully _just_ so he could see Bunnymund's face.

"Speak of the devil!" Bunny said, turning to face Jack with a furious glare. "I've heard all about your pesky endeavors down under! And not to mention my very own Warren! What exactly do you think you are doing, you bloody-"

"Now, now, Bunny," North said soothingly, before looking at Phil and nodding. Phil instantly let go of Jack's hood. Jack fell with a loud thump, not having expected being dropped so soon.

"Thanks, Phil. Much appreciated," Jack muttered, half sarcastically. Phil saluted mockingly with his fingers before heading out, shutting the door behind him.

"So, vhat brings you here, Jack?" North started, helping the boy up from the ground.

"He was obviously up to some mischief if a bloody Yeti had to bring him in by the scruff of his neck!" Bunnymund accused loudly. "How could Manny choose someone so-" But once again, North spoke over him.

"Never mind, Bunny. You have riled him up little. He vill settle down," North assured Jack, and Bunny gaped at him, jaws nearly reaching the floor. He collected himself to complain, but this time Jack cut him off.

"I came here to ask you something," Jack began, leaning on his shepherd's crook. His eyes met North's, and the older man's eyes narrowed in anticipation. "It's about a girl-"

"Oh, boy. Here we go," Bunnymund sighed in exasperation. "See what I told you? Irresponsible! And now he's gone off and fallen in love with some _human_!"

"That was not where I was going at all!" Jack said, his voice rising in annoyance. He looked back at North, who nodded, urging him to continue. "She's Jamie's new neighbour. I think he's friends with her brother."

"Ah, yes. Little David. I made check up on Jamie," North winked. "Vhat about his sister?"

"I just wanted to know if this was normal," Jack started again. He suddenly felt the urge to bite his lips. He had no idea why he was so anxious to tell North. "You see…" He stalled, thinking about how to phrase things without Bunnymund getting all up in his grill (sorry). "When children don't believe me, as they often do," he chuckled softly, "it…well, I do feel strange when they walk through me. It's even a bit painful. But this girl… I don't know why, but I get a very different feeling. I've been feeling almost charged when I'm around her-"

"Charged?" North asked, tilting his head slightly with curiously.

"Yes!" Jack exclaimed, racking his brain for a better way to explain it. "I feel like there's so much static everywhere suddenly. It might sound crazy, but this static almost… pulls me to her?" He grimaced as he said it, waiting for Bunnymund to take his chance at teasing him.

And boy, did he grab it.

"Hahahaha!" Bunnymund couldn't stop himself. He was practically rolling on the floor, clutching his sides.

"Bunny!" North hissed, before deciding to ignore the ball of fluff tumbling around the floor. "This sounds serious."

"…It does?" Jack asked tentatively. Just then, Bunnymund gave a particularly strange sounding giggle fit, causing North to burst out laughing as well.

Jack was not amused.

"Sorry, sorry," North apologized, wiping away non-existing tears from his eyes. "I vas trying to be earnest." He inhaled deeply, the girth of his trousers expanding immensely before deflating. Jack watched this cautiously. "It sounds familiar…" North hummed, stroking his long white beard. His eyes were glazed over as he thought about Jack's words, and slowly, his pupils focused back on his present surroundings.

"Oh, this not good," North breathed.

* * *

**So I watched RotG for the 4th time today, this time with my brother. At the beginning, when Jack first flies at the pond and then falls down through all those trees, landing kind of splayed on a branch my brother (who is 8) screamed: THANK GOD HE HAS BALLS OF ICE.**

**Anyway, I am so happy with the reviews I got from last chapter. I will reply soon I promise. I have so many ideas for this fic that I just want to keep writing! And with the reviews, it's just added motivation! So here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Excuse any typos. I skimmed through this chapter twice but haven't done much proof-reading otherwise...**


	5. Chapter 5

Bunnymund lifted himself gingerly from the ground and put on a show of dusting his fur while collecting himself. "What is it, North?" He asked, all jokes aside.

"This could potentially be very serious," North replied, running a hand down his beard as he thought.

"P-p-potentially?" Bunnymund stammered, not sure what he meant.

"Indeed. It reminds me of curious phenomenon that happened many years ago. But it could be something else entirely."

"So…gut feeling?" Jack pitched in, not really sure whether he should regret his decision of telling North or not.

"Exactly!" North exclaimed, but a serious look took over his face a moment later. "I vill assign mission to two of you."

"Oh, dear," Bunny started, rolling his eyes. "Listen, mate. I am not-"

"I ask for surveillance of girl, tventy-four-seven!" North shouted over Bunny, not tolerating any more bickering between the Easter Bunny and the Winter Spirit.

"WHAT?!" Came the cry from both Guardians.

"Yes. You shall vatch over her like hawks."

"Listen, you old crow! I have things to do! Important things! I can't just drop everything I'm doing and watch some _potentially_ unimportant girl just because of your _gut feeling_!" Bunny emphasized the last two words with disgust.

"Important things? Bunny, it's not even Christmas yet. And as you have told me over and over again, you deal vith perishables. So you have plenty of time!" North's jolly tone did nothing to suppress Bunny's anger. "Plus, ven have my gut feeling been wrong?"

"And what about me? I still had plans for the Southern Hemisphere," Jack piped up, feeling kind of confused. "And what could be so important about this girl anyway?"

North laughed, but it sounded almost ominous. "My boy, I think your plans too ambitious. Besides, that's vhy I decide to post two Guardians. To take turns. So you vill have time over," he took a pause to wink at Bunny, who almost deflated with relief. "And I shall not go to detail, but if what you describe is correct, she could be a Thesan."

His words were met with silence. Jack's forehead had creased. The word meant nothing to him, but Bunny's jaw seemed to have dropped once again.

"Guess we better get to it then," he said when he'd composed himself for a second time. "I can take the first shift," he offered, looking straight at Jack- all business.

"Wait, wait, wait," Jack said, lifting his palm towards the two of them and shaking his head. "Thesan? Am I supposed to know what that is? I mean, I know I'm still new to the whole 'being a Guardian' thing, but I didn't know I was that clueless."

"Bunny," North said, and the oversized rabbit nodded.

"I'll explain on the way, kid. Let's just survey the area. I need to get more familiar with the girl and where she lives," Bunny said, tapping his foot twice. A large hole suddenly opened beside him. "What was her name, North?" Bunny asked suddenly, looking at the big man with his ears perked up.

"Maleya," North replied, his eyes shining. "Maleya O'Connor."

And before Jack had a chance to repeat her name to himself- a name that sounded too foreign and too interesting to suit a girl so plain, he found himself being dragged through the rabbit hole by Bunnymund.

* * *

**A/N: A short chapter, but hopefully the pace will pick up now. It might be a bit confusing, but everything will be explained in due time.**

**I also plan to introduce the antagonist(s?) within the next three chapters. Woo!**

**Let me know what you think? And thank you for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter! **


	6. Chapter 6

Bunnymund lifted himself gingerly from the ground and put on a show of dusting his fur while collecting himself. "What is it, North?" He asked, all jokes aside.

"This could potentially be very serious," North replied, running a hand down his beard as he thought.

"P-p-potentially?" Bunnymund stammered, not sure what he meant.

"Indeed. It reminds me of curious phenomenon that happened many years ago. But it could be something else entirely."

"So…gut feeling?" Jack pitched in, not really sure whether he should regret his decision of telling North or not.

"Exactly!" North exclaimed, but a serious look took over his face a moment later. "I vill assign mission to two of you."

"Oh, dear," Bunny started, rolling his eyes. "Listen, mate. I am not-"

"I ask for surveillance of girl, tventy-four-seven!" North shouted over Bunny, not tolerating any more bickering between the Easter Bunny and the Winter Spirit.

"WHAT?!" Came the cry from both Guardians.

"Yes. You shall vatch over her like hawks."

"Listen, you old crow! I have things to do! Important things! I can't just drop everything I'm doing and watch some _potentially_ unimportant girl just because of your _gut feeling_!" Bunny emphasized the last two words with disgust.

"Important things? Bunny, it's not even Christmas yet. And as you have told me over and over again, you deal vith perishables. So you have plenty of time!" North's jolly tone did nothing to suppress Bunny's anger. "Plus, ven have my gut feeling been wrong?"

"And what about me? I still had plans for the Southern Hemisphere," Jack piped up, feeling kind of confused. "And what could be so important about this girl anyway?"

North laughed, but it sounded almost ominous. "My boy, I think your plans too ambitious. Besides, that's vhy I decide to post two Guardians. To take turns. So you vill have time over," he took a pause to wink at Bunny, who almost deflated with relief. "And I shall not go to detail, but if what you describe is correct, she could be a Thesan."

His words were met with silence. Jack's forehead had creased. The word meant nothing to him, but Bunny's jaw seemed to have dropped once again.

"Guess we better get to it then," he said when he'd composed himself for a second time. "I can take the first shift," he offered, looking straight at Jack- all business.

"Wait, wait, wait," Jack said, lifting his palm towards the two of them and shaking his head. "Thesan? Am I supposed to know what that is? I mean, I know I'm still new to the whole 'being a Guardian' thing, but I didn't know I was that clueless."

"Bunny," North said, and the oversized rabbit nodded.

"I'll explain on the way, kid. Let's just survey the area. I need to get more familiar with the girl and where she lives," Bunny said, tapping his foot twice. A large hole suddenly opened beside him. "What was her name, North?" Bunny asked suddenly, looking at the big man with his ears perked up.

"Maleya," North replied, his eyes shining. "Maleya O'Connor."

And before Jack had a chance to repeat her name to himself- a name that sounded too foreign and too interesting to suit a girl so plain, he found himself being dragged through the rabbit hole by Bunnymund.

The tunnels lead them to the brisky night air of Burgess. While it had taken a couple of hours for Jack to make his way to the North Pole, Bunnymund's method took mere minutes.

Bunny poked his head out of the hole, checked out the view, and then hopped out. Jack followed. They were outside Jamie Bennett's house.

"That's her house," Jack pointed at the house on the right.

Bunnymund's ears twitched as he sniffed the air. His eyes took in the view of the house. It had always stood there, but he'd never taken note of it. He hadn't needed to until today.

"But she's not home," Jack stated. It wasn't that the light in her room was switched off. It wasn't the dead hookah that stood out on her balcony. It was the electric feeling he got in his hand. She was in the forest.

"I feel it, too, mate," Bunny said, looking in the direction of the forest. "I'm sure North had some suspicions, too, when he came to see Jamie. He wouldn't have sent us out like this otherwise."

"Hm…" Jack thought for a moment, not sure how to react to Bunnymund experiencing the same thing. It might have been an immature thought, but he'd almost wished he'd been the only one- the _specia_l one. "So, what is this Thesan thing all about?" He asked, turning to look at Bunnymund.

Bunnymund's ears twitched slightly and he began walking towards the forest, his eyes looking almost glazed over in a trance. Slowly, he motioned for Jack to follow.

"We need to be careful around her," Bunnymund began.

"So she_ is_ a 'Thesan' thingy?" Jack asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Since I feel it, too, I'm quite certain. I'v never met one before though," Bunnymund replied. "They are only born every so often and it's not common to run across one."

"So…what exactly are they?" Jack pressed again, frustration rising in him. They had left the lawn, which frosted over as Jack walked through it, and entered the reddening forest behind the O'Connor's house.

"We dunno why they began showing up. I heard stories that Man in the Moon granted a human special powers as a way for Guardians and other spirits to gain advantage in the war against darker forces," Bunnymund told Jack. The Winter Spirit had never seen the Easter Bunny this solemn before. "The thing with Thesans is that they are able to make us mortal- vulnerable to death."

"What?!" Jack exclaimed. There was no need to tell him to keep his voice down. Very few people believed in him, and those that did were probably in bed by now. "How is that an advantage?!"

"It isn't- not for us. But it means that these meaner spirits can also be killed- not just sealed like that drongo Pitch was. Once they're gone with the help of a Thesan, they're gone for good.

"Of course…" Bunny continued, holding Jack's gaze. "That also makes us vulnerable if this lady's in the wrong hands."

"But…The Bogeyman was sealed. We don't have anything to worry about, right?" Jack asked, uncertainty clear in his voice. He didn't like the idea of having to worry about him again.

"Sure, mate. But there are other spirits who want to harm children, just as there are many that want to help them," Bunny said ominously, and Jack felt the hair on his skin stand on end. _There were others…?!_

Just then, they heard the rustle of leaves and Bunnymund stuck his hand out, forcing Jack to stop. They had no clear sense of direction and Jack realized he didn't know where he was. They had both simply been following the pull that they felt.

In the moonlight, Jack saw a figure. He knew it was her from the red that glowed in the light on her head. He saw Maleya- as he now knew her name was- walking through a haphazard path in the forest, a lit cigarette in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

"So this is the girl," Bunnymund said out loud, giving Jack a teasing look. "Not a bad catch, kid."

"What?" Jack cried out, but his surprise was cut short as the girl knelt on the ground.

Maleya had no idea she was being followed. It wasn't that late, but her parents were asleep. She went out for a smoke and a quick walk through the forest. She'd come across the large canine footprints in the mud several times before, and her curiosity was almost bursting out of her.

The prints did not match anything she found in all her field guides. Sure, it might have been a coyote or a wolf, but it had just been too big to be either. It wasn't a bear- bears had a different kind of print, but she couldn't think of anything else. She'd been hoping to spot the animal, though in the back of her head she knew that wasn't the safest thing.

But safety didn't concern her right now. She was agitated and curious. Her agitation stemmed both from the knowledge that a psychiatric appointment awaited her tomorrow- she would meet her new doctor for the first time- and the unsolved mystery that she'd been trying to crack for days. She'd even consulted Jamie- the aspiring cryptozoologist was baffled and promised to look through all of his "magazines" and books.

With a flashlight in hand, she scanned the dirt for prints but couldn't find any fresh ones. Wincing, she almost hoped for snow. Snow would make tracking so much easier.

"What is she doing?" Bunny asked, voice low even though he knew she couldn't see or hear him.

"She's wacked up. She thinks looking at plants and naming them are fun," Jack replied, leaning on his staff.

"What's wrong with that?" Bunny challenged, his chest puffing up in defense. Jack noticed the tone and the body language, and really didn't want to start an argument.

"Nothing. It's just that she's…well, boring. She's been here for a while, but I've never seen her spend time with anyone apart from her brother and Jamie. She spends all her time cooped up in her room or in the forest. Oh, and smoking," he added as an afterthought as she took another drag from her cigarette, before killing it on the forest floor and placing the cigarette butt in a zipper bag she carried with her in her pocket. Jack noted it was full of smoked cigarettes.

"I think that's a beautiful thing, that," Bunny said, as they followed her for a few steps. "You don't realize how rare her kind is."

"Yes, she's a Thesan, I get it."

"Didn't mean that, mate. I meant people who genuinely love the outdoors," Bunny replied, and Jack thought he almost heard the admiration in her voice.

"I don't see how this is such a good thing," Jack sighed, rolling his eyes. He thought of the amount of time he'd have to spend with her in the future, and how boring it was going to be. He was already trying to figure out ways he could kill his boredom while keeping watch over her.

Bunnymund didn't say anything for a while, but then he knelt down and picked up a plant from the ground. It was a buttercup, but the flower was withering.

"See this here?" Bunny asked, and Jack gave Bunny a bemused look. "What do you think it is?"

"A flower," Jack deadpanned.

"Yes, but what kind?"

"A buttercup… Why is this important?" Jack asked, frustrated.

"If you gave this to her, she would look at the number of petals, whether the sepals are fused or separate, where the ovary is on the flower- above or below the petals, the shape of the leaves, the presence or lack of pubescence, and much more, kid. They are small details, but these are all details she has probably memorized. I think it's admirable because it shows passion and the ability to see the diversity in life, no matter how small they are."

"Well, you'll get along _smashingly_!" Jack announced with mock-enthusiasm.

"Oh, I'm sure we will…" Bunny said, trailing off as he watched her light another cigarette. She drew in a small puff, and then let it out, her breath coming out a mixture of smoke and fog.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys didn't have to wait too long with this chapter. I wrote it several times. I feel like I'm going too fast or not developing the story enough. Feedback would be helpful. I have most of the next chapter written up as well, so it won't be too long till that one's published too! **

**Also, it's 5:38 am and I have a Landscape Ecology field excursion to go to in less than 2 hours... Insomnia is a bitch. **


	7. Chapter 7

Mallie slammed her locker shut with unintended force. She had been feeling strange all week.

Even before she started taking her new medication, she had felt a weird, almost nervous sensation take over her body. She felt on edge, anxious. And it wasn't her anxiety order acting up.

Now, she was feeling worse for wear. Her head was aching, and she'd been feeling nauseous and fatigued all day. It was only the last lecture, but she had already decided she'd stay home the next day. Her father had given her an allotted number of days where she was allowed to take a break from school if she didn't feel well, and she was going to make use of one of them.

"Hey!" A voice piped up behind her and she almost jumped. Her head throbbed uncomfortably. Slowly, Mallie turned to face the owner of that voice. She met a pair of large brown eyes and a perfectly white set of teeth.

"Oh, hey, Pri!" Mallie said, trying to muster some strength to forget about her headache for a while. She'd met Pri, or Priyanka, as she was really called, just a day before. And while she couldn't really call her a friend yet, she did enjoy her company and the feeling was mutual.

"Are you okay? You're a bit pale," Pri noted, a touch of concern on her flawless face.

"Yeah, just a headache. Probably didn't drink enough water in this heat…" Mallie joked. They had both come from warmer climates- Pri was Indian of origin, and she laughed lightly at the joke.

"I hope you feel better soon. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this weekend?" She asked, flicking back locks of silky black hair from her shoulders.

"Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun," Mallie smiled. She hadn't really been hanging out with anyone since she moved to Burgess, and she hoped the side effects of her pills wouldn't stop her from taking her first step.

"Great! There's a party at Holly's place on Saturday, and I was wondering if you'd come? You could be my date if you want," Priyanka winked and Mallie laughed. She had only talked to Holly briefly, and while Mallie had felt uncomfortable around her, it didn't necessarily mean they were on bad terms.

"If I feel better and she's fine with that, then I'd love to," Mallie replied, and Priyanka's face lit up with a grin.

"Really? Ah, great! I'll give you a call tomorrow then to check up on you and give you all the details!" Priyanka said, voice full of excitement.

"Sounds like a plan," Mallie smiled back, trying not to wince from the pain in her head. "I should be heading to class though…" She admitted and Priyanka's face fell.

"Shit! I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me. Talk to you soon then!" She said, and waved quickly before running down the overcrowded hall, books pressed against her chest.

Mallie sighed, not sure how she was going to sit through Calculus while she felt like this, but determined to try anyway. She made her way to class at a decidedly much slower pace than Priyanka had.

The last hour went by like torture. Several times, Mallie felt the room spin and she was almost certain she had fever. When the last school bell finally rang, she exhaled thankfully and made her way to her navy blue locker, throwing her math books in and grabbing her bag. She didn't bother checking if she had everything she needed. She just wanted to go home and sleep, and with those two goals in mind, she began the slow trudge home.

Bunnymund's ears perked up at the sound of Baby Tooth's buzzing wings. He'd had a bit of a problem trying to follow Maleya to school, since he'd been worried about potential 'late believers'- teenagers who still clung to their belief despite their age. Not only that, but the hallways were always crowded, and just the though of being walked through by several non believers made him shudder- being walked through once was a horrible enough experience.

Toothiana had been updated by North and felt sympathetic to his problems, so she sent Baby Tooth to help keep an eye on Maleya when she went to places he couldn't. Baby Tooth had been able to stay hidden much more efficiently than the oversized Bunny, and had followed Maleya around during her entire school day for the past two days.

Now that Baby Tooth was back, he suspected Maleya was at home, too. The pulling sensation, or 'Thesan effect', confirmed this.

With a quick tap of his foot, he hopped into his hole and appeared in her room, where she'd already put on some more comfortable clothes. Baby Tooth buzzed about him and tried to tell her all about Maleya's day and her sudden discomfort, but Bunnymund found her hard to understand.

He did, however, notice that Maleya's face was a few shades paler than normal. Her tanned skin didn't look as healthy as it had yesterday, and she seemed slightly out of it as well. Without a word, she climbed in under the covers of her queen-sized bed, rolled onto her side, and tried to fall asleep.

Bunny gave Baby Tooth a questioning look, but Baby Tooth simply shrugged. Somehow, Bunny had a feeling that the new pills she was on were behind this.

It was only a couple of hours later that Maleya woke up. She had been startled by the sound of the door downstairs slamming shut and she knew her brother had come back from his football lessons. She didn't feel at all rested, but she managed to crawl out of bed and walked towards her vanity desk, taking in the mess that stared back at her.

Her normally olive brown skin was a few shades lighter- both from the lack of sun she'd experienced since moving to Burgess and the fact that she wasn't feeling very well. Her dark brown eyes were slightly bloodshot and her hair was even more frizzed and tangled than normal. She sighed loudly.

Maleya had been diagnosed with Borderline and Anxiety disorder since she'd started middle school. Her mother had frequently made attempts to get her 'checked' and once Maleya had been diagnosed and medicated, she'd walked around with a smug look on her face. It was though she was telling everyone that she _knew _there had been something wrong with her daughter.

Moving to a new place meant that she naturally had to start seeing a new psychiatrist to check her medication. Dr. Fredriksson had been a kind enough man. He wore thick glasses and had short grey hair peppered with black. He had contacted her previous doctor and read her file beforehand, so Maleya was relieved that she didn't need to recount her entire life story for him, as she had had to do with her previous doctors.

But the change in medication meant the onset of side effects. She remembered laughing bitterly when she read the paper that followed her new pills. Nausea, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, weight loss, weight gain, suicidal thoughts, and then, at the very end, it said: personality change.

She reached for her scrunchie and tried to tie her hair back and away from her face. She then made her way downstairs and welcomed her brother home.

"How was your day?" she'd asked, after hugging David.

"It was great! I got an A- on my first quiz and I made a lot of new friends at soccer practice today!" He recounted happily. Maleya smiled as she put some leftovers in the microwave for him.

"Did you drink a lot of water?" She asked and he nodded, showing off his empty water bottle.

It was then his features changed slightly.

"Maleya, what's that?" he asked, pointing at a spot by her left shoulder. Maleya spun around but found nothing out of place.

"You mean the cutting board?" she asked, befuddled. Her forehead creased as she tried to see what it was he was looking at.

"No, that blue flying thing!" He exclaimed, running up to her to have a closer look. He stood just in front of her and tried to get up on his toes for a better glimpse. Maleya strained her neck to look at her shoulder, but saw nothing. David's eyes lit up as he took in the sight that was invisible to Maleya.

"You must be a tooth fairy!" he suddenly announced, extending a hand forward before taking it back to his chest. His palm looked like it was cradling something. Maleya's arched an eyebrow at him. _He must be spending too much time with Jamie…_

"You can't see her?" David looked up at his sister, his eyes almost looking a bit sad.

Maleya smiled but shook her head, not having the energy to play along. "No, I guess I'm not special enough," she laughed lightly, turning her attention back to the microwave and setting the time on. "So, what does she look like?" she inquired.

"She looks almost like a little hummingbird, but with a face," David started.

"Hummingbirds have faces," Maleya couldn't help but interject, but David just rolled his eyes.

"I meant a human face. You have really pretty feathers, you know," he said, aiming the second sentence to the imaginary thing he was holding. "It's green and blue and yellow!" he exclaimed, raising a finger and waving it slightly as though he was petting something.

"Sounds really beautiful. I haven't seen any hummingbirds in real life, but they all have such gorgeous feathers in pictures," Maleya commented, opening the microwave when it beeped.

"I really wish you could see her, Mallie!" David said, sounding almost anguished. "And she was flying right next to you, too! I think she likes you!"

Maleya's mouth twitched slightly into a miniscule smile as she put David's food on the table along with a glass of milk. "Wish I could see her, too," she said, before hunting the cupboards for some painkillers to ease the throbbing in her head.

Bunnymund heard the entire exchange from Maleya's bedroom, not really wanting to go downstairs and causing a scene with David. He smiled sadly, thinking about how great it would be to get her to believe. The power that the Guardians got when an older child or adolescent believed was incredible, but those believers were few, with their belief already stemming from a young age. Maleya had stopped believing a long time ago- or maybe she never had- and getting her to do so (again?) would be quite difficult.

Bunnymund was brought out of his thoughts by an obnoxious tapping at the window. Turning around, he saw the all-too-familiar face of the Winter Spirit, who waved at him when he got his attention. Rolling his eyes at Jack's overly excited expression, Bunnymund made his way to the sliding doors of Maleya's terrace and unlocked them for Jack. Frost formed and lingered on the glass as Jack made his way into Maleya's room.

"Hope I'm not late!" Jack announced, making a show to dust off his hooded sweater and fix his hair- no doubt messed up from his "joyride". Flying, with the help of the Wind, seemed to be one of Jack's favourite past times and he sometimes got caught up with it so much that he lost track of time.

"You just about made it, mate," Bunny replied gruffly. "Baby Tooth is down with the lass. Her brother seems to have spotted 'er," he commented, before tapping his feet. A wide hole formed beside him. "Keep your eyes on her, kid. She's not feeling too dainty at the moment," he warned, before jumping into the rabbit hole. His 'eggplants' needed looking after and he wanted to reach them as soon as he could.

Jack sighed in relief when Bunny was gone and took a moment to absorb his surroundings. He'd never been in her room before.

It was… plain and not all that interesting to him, but he hadn't really expected anything else. Her desk was cluttered with papers and books and her vanity desk was no better. The walls were plain apart from a few posters with scientific illustrations of plants and animals. She also had a few frames with taxidermy butterflies, beetles, and a few bats. A wardrobe stood in one corner of the room, made from some dark, polished wood.

Her floor was carpeted, which was an obstacle for Jack. His footprints left frost, so he had to hover and make sure not to stray too close to anything.

He could hear some muffled talk downstairs. He couldn't make out a word, however.

_How could Bunny…? _His thought began, but then he remembered the always twitching pair of perked up ears his fellow Guardian possessed and chuckled to himself.

Making his way to the corridor outside Maleya's room and then down the stairs, the voices became a bit louder. He didn't dare to make his presence known yet, especially with a Believer there, so he stayed by the steps and listened.

"…and then the ball went _'whoosh' _and Alex tried to catch it, but it was SO fast. He didn't have a chance!" came a young boy's enthusiastic retelling of his soccer match. Jack hadn't met him before, but he knew this was David, the girl's younger brother.

"And then your team won?" came Maleya's almost lazy reply. Jack frowned a bit at the contrast. She seemed almost bored with his story. Couldn't she muster some effort and humour the kid? Jack had to refrain from rolling his eyes.

"Yeah!" David cheered. "Goaaaal!"

Maleya managed a weak laugh, but then said, "Come on, you've barely touched your broccoli," she noted, and David groaned audibly.

"I don't like broccoli…" he complained, and Jack could almost hear him spearing his plate with his fork in protest.

"Doesn't matter, you still have to eat it," Maleya replied.

Jack couldn't help but feel some sort of animosity towards the girl. He tried to push those feelings away, but they kept coming back to him. He supposed it was the fact that she was more or less a grown-up- someone he wouldn't normally bother with. But now, he was being forced to. And the impending boredom that would no doubt follow the next few days added to his irritation. She enjoyed things he didn't and he would have to put up with that just because she could be "valuable" to the Guardians in the long run.

How on earth they were going to make that happen, he had no idea. But right now, he left North to his scheming and focused on making his allotted number of days fly by as quickly as possible before Bunnymund could relieve him of his shift.

Thank goodness Baby Tooth was there to help things a bit. He already planned a surprise visit to Jamie as soon as he could.

"Mallie, are you okay?" the boy's concerned question suddenly broke through a few seconds of silence.

"I'm a bit ill," Jack heard Maleya admit. "But I took some aspirin. I'll feel better in no time." She tried to manage a cheery front, but it was weak. Jack remembered Bunnymund's earlier warnings.

"Can we watch a movie when I'm done?" David asked cautiously.

"Sure," came her reply, and Jack could almost feel David's excitement. "_And _you can pick this time," she said. "As long as it's not Power Rangers," she added.

She enjoyed watching animated shows and other TV series aimed for kids, but even that one was a bit too cheesy for her.

David rushed to hurry his meal and then dutifully put his plate and cutlery in the dishwasher. He finished his glass of milk with one go and then put it away in the dishwasher as well. Maleya thought about offering herself to do it, but she was too tired to.

David made his way to the living room, and Jack had to climb a few stairs to avoid being seen. Maleya followed, though her pace was more sluggish while David's were energetic and excited. She couldn't understand how he had so much energy after a long day at school and practice. She wished she had the same vivaciousness in her.

David looked through the assortment of DVDs that were neatly stacked in a bookcase nearby, before deciding on Kung Fu Panda and inserting it into the DVD player.

Jack took the time to stroll around the upper part of the house. He visited the different rooms that weren't Maleya's. He guessed the blue one with rocketships, dinosaurs, fake swords and the like belonged to David. There was a second room that was decorated with deep, warm colours of orange and red. It was a study, with a dark brown mahogany desk and black leather swivel chair. There were bookshelves filled with books and a printer. The only other door led to a bathroom.

Despite only having been inside for less than a few minutes, he could tell that money wasn't an issue in this household.

He wanted to hang out downstairs, and the potential of meeting another believer was teasing him, but he didn't want to create a scene just yet. He would wait until another time to introduce himself to David; a time when they were in private and away from non-believing eyes like Maleya. For now, he trusted that Baby Tooth would do a good job watching over Maleya and warning him if something was amiss.

"Baby Tooth! I'm going to visit Jamie!" He declared, and he heard the familiar buzzing of fast wings pause for a second before continuing. A brief chirp came in reply, and with that, he made his way to Maleya's room and took off out of a window that was situated beside her sliding doors. He couldn't shut it completely on his way out, but at least it let him get back inside later.

Maleya sighed as she sank down the comfortable material of the couch. There was a blanket neatly folded by the armrest, and she didn't hesitate it to drape it over herself after asking David if he wanted it. The house had gotten colder all of a sudden.

"Want to watch it with us, little tooth fairy?" David had asked an invisible fluttering thing that was apparently beside her. She saw his face light up in what she guessed was a yes.

David was sitting on the other end of the couch, fumbling with the remote control as he tried to put the movie on. It didn't take long before the two of them- or three, with the 'tooth fairy'-were greeted with the menu and its accompanying song.

Maleya looked at her brother amicably. He was genuinely excited about a movie he must have already seen four times, and she didn't mind one bit. The situation was good in her favour, allowing her to take it easy by lying down and focusing on getting rid of the throbbing in her head. She hoped the painkillers would take effect soon.

"Want some popcorn or something?" she asked out of habit, but was relieved when he shook his head. She didn't really feel like moving. Maleya tried to turn her attention to the movie. There was a scene with a giant panda working at some noodle shop or something. She couldn't really fathom what was going on, and soon enough, she felt her drowsiness take a stronger hold on her. Without really intending to, she drifted off into a comfortable continuation of her afternoon nap.

* * *

**A/N: Finished this chapter at 4:33 am. (And I have to wake up at 9. Sigh) Anyway! I hope you liked it! Please review!**

**I intended to briefly introduce Maleya's 'situation'. It will be explained more in the future, of course. I find it very easy to reflect myself or the experience of my friends in my main characters. I have similar (and more) disorders as Maleya does and am also battling medication change. It's not fun. I hope it doesn't trigger anything for any of you lovely readers! Let me know if I need to put out a warning or something. **

**Furthermore, I wanted to show a bit of how Jack is still prioritizing 'fun' over duty, as well as expand his impression and feelings about Maleya. **

**Also, I'm afraid I've switched from 'football' to 'soccer' somewhere in this chapter, but since I've been taught British English growing up, it's a hard habit to shake off. I mean the same thing though! **

**Anyway! Going to spend some time with my puppy before attempting to hit the hay! Sweet dreams!**


	8. Chapter 8

Maleya was shocked awake by the sound of the front door closing. She sat up suddenly, her memories of the brief dream she was having slipping further and further away from her. The only thing she remembered was: _Why was the tooth fairy here when no one had lost a tooth?_

"Daddy!" Came David's greeting and Maleya winced, waiting for the onslaught of her headache, but was relieved when nothing came. Relaxing, she opened her eyes. The room had become significantly darker and warmer since she'd gone to sleep.

"Hey, kiddo!" her father's deep voice grumbled in response. Maleya turned to watch him scooping David off the ground and high into the air, enveloping him in a giant bear hug. "How was your day?" he asked, and David grinned.

"We won at soccer practice today!" David boasted proudly and received a good hair-ruffling from his dad.

"Oh, you did, huh? And I guess you did all the hard work?"

"Well, it was a team effort…" David said rather humbly.

"That's a good boy. Acknowledging your team like that. But, I'm sure they couldn't have done it without you!" Maleya's father's voice hitched a bit as he bent down to put his son back on the ground. His suitcase had barely touched the ground before David had run to him.

She eyed him over. He looked quite tired.

"Hey, dad. How was your day?" Maleya chimed in, and he smiled a greeting at her.

"Stressful, but I got a lot of stuff done," he nodded, taking off his jacket and proceeding to the couch she was sitting on. "And how about you, cupcake?" he asked, ruffling her hair as well. She laughed.

"I've felt horrible all day," she admitted. "So… peachy?"

"That bad, huh?" he said, his eyes narrowing slightly with concern. "Maybe you should take the day off tomorrow?"

"Was planning to," she said meekly, smiling up at him. "Don't think I can handle another calculus class in that state." She watched him eye her for a minute. She knew he was taking in her paler features and feverish burn on her cheeks. He was really concerned with her, and it made her feel happy. She had a great dad and she was grateful for that.

"Well, mom's going to be working late, but I figure I can take over playing with David," he announced, giving his son a big grin. "Since your sister was doing such a good job, dozing off and all."

"Sorry…" she replied sheepishly, but he just laughed.

"No worries. So what were you watching David? And did you eat?"

"Kung Fu Panda!" David replied, racing over to his dad's side. "And uh-uh! Plus I did the dishes!"

"He did indeed," Maleya confirmed, smiling warmly at her brother. "But I guess I'll head off upstairs then… I'm worried I'll fall asleep standing up." She folded the blanket as she spoke, and her dad nodded.

"Oh, and dad! The tooth fairy came to visit!" David exclaimed. "Can you see her? She's still here!" he said, pointing at a spot close to Maleya's shoulder.

"Did you lose a tooth?" his dad asked, confused.

"No, but I think she really likes Mallie! She's been hovering beside her all day! She's very pretty, like a hummingbird! Can you see her, daddy? Can you?" He asked again, excited, but looked quite disappointed when his dad shook his head.

"No, guess she's shy," he replied, and Mallie waved at both of them before heading upstairs.

"Aw, Mallie! She's following you upstairs!" David said, both happy for his sister and sad that the fairy was leaving him.

"I'm sure she'll stick around so you can talk with her some more," Maleya smiled. "Good night," she managed, before walking up the stairs slowly, grabbing the railing tightly in case she slipped. The dizziness and nausea weren't gone, though the aching in her head was.

"Night, lemon pie!" Her dad called back cheesily, and Maleya couldn't help the grin that formed on her face. He was always calling her weird things. It was almost… cute.

She wished she wasn't feeling so tired and hazy. She rarely got to spend time with him away from her mother, and he seemed to be more serious when she was around. She loved seeing him like this- the real him. He was so carefree, almost childish, and happy.

Sighing, Maleya opened the door to her room and was shocked to find that it was chillingly cold. She saw the cause almost immediately; one of her windows was open. Angrily, she marched and shut it loudly. She knew she hadn't left it open, but her father had told her sometimes the doors and windows opened by themselves due to the pressure from closing or opening other doors. The thought that someone might have snuck in struck her, but she waved the thought away. She didn't think it was possible since she was all the way up on the second floor, and she didn't have the energy to investigate.

Instead, she made her to the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth.

Jack exhaled loudly with relief. He had made it back in her room just in time. He had seen someone's car parking outside and had left Jamie hurriedly while he got ready for dinner. A few seconds late, and he would have been locked out. Baby Tooth buzzed in front him, looking rather displeased. She waved a finger scoldingly at him, and he lifted his shoulders in protest.

"Sorry?" he said sheepishly and she rolled her eyes. "You can leave if you want to, you know," he added, thinking that Toothiana was probably struggling without her trusted helper.

Baby Tooth squeaked a bit, trying to explain that Maleya wasn't going to school tomorrow. It took a long time- a game of charades seemed to have ensued- but Jack finally understood her.

"Right. I'll keep watch on her tomorrow, too, then. You can help Tooth out in the meantime. Alright?" he asked, and nodded, smiling at him. She waved a finger again in warning, before she took off through one of the windows that Jack helped open for her. He closed it immediately, however, noticing how angry Maleya had gotten.

She came out minutes later wearing a rather short nightdress. It was blue with a pink cartoon cat in the middle of it, and Jack almost laughed. He hadn't imagined her having anything like this in her closet at all. She often seemed… a bit uptight, and her clothes usually reflected that.

Maleya felt a bit more refreshed, having washed her face and brushed her teeth vigorously. She wasn't hungry. The nausea had made sure she had no appetite despite not having eaten anything since a small lunch at school.

"…so fucking cold," she muttered to herself as she walked towards her bed. She hated the cold, and despite having closed the window, the temperature seemed to have dropped even more since she'd gone into the bathroom. She contemplated sleeping in her bathtub. At least the bathroom was warm.

"Really don't like the cold, huh?" Jack laughed, hovering over the floor slightly as he tried not to frost anything over. "I can have _so_ much fun with that," he added to himself, thinking of all the ways he could piss her off some more. He watched her climb into bed and pull her thick duvet over her slightly shaking body. He would've almost felt sorry for her if he hadn't found it so amusing.

Seeing Jamie had lifted his spirits slightly, and he thought he could manage without any real "fun" for a couple of days while he watched her. He didn't want to give the Guardians _another_ reason to think of him as irresponsible. But if he had to use Maleya as the target of his pranks and practical jokes, he hoped they would understand…

Suddenly, Maleya sat up, and he almost jumped at the sudden motion. He watched her pull herself to a sitting position and stretch a hand to the side table by her bed. She picked up a small bottle, unscrewed it, and shook out two pills onto her hand. She had a small water bottle nearby, and managed to put one pill in her mouth before taking a sip of water. He watched her swallow the pills with interest.

"What are those for?" he asked, knowing she wouldn't answer. When she had tucked herself back in bed, he hovered by her nightstand. He saw her shiver visibly when his presence caused the surrounding area to become colder, but he tried not to notice. He leaned forward and read the labels on the bottle she'd recently opened.

"Zyprexa…?" he read. There was another bottle, this one labeled "Lamotrigine". He didn't know what either was, but he knew they were medication. A blue box was lying on the side table, this one with the words 'Atarax' on it.

"Sheesh," he breathed out. "That's a lot of medication." She tried to cover her face with her duvet as she waited for the duvet to warm her up, and he decided to move away to the far side of the room. She had a small bookshelf by her desk, and he went over to read the titles while he waited for her to sleep. The lights were off and most of the curtains were drawn, so it was hard to read in the dark, but he managed in the end.

She had a plethora of fictional and reference books. Some titled were familiar to him, others weren't. He touched the spine of one book. "Ariels by Sylvia Plath". He'd heard of the poet, albeit vaguely. After all, he had been there when she established herself as a writer. Well, not 'there', but well… in this world.

Three hundred years had gone by, and he had been astounded by how fast the world was developing. He watched the coming of electricity, cars, movies, music, and many other progresses. He'd also seen the steps back that humanity had taken, what with the wars that were happening all over the place. Of course, he had tried not to linger on them too long- that would have depressed him- and tried to spend as much time getting to know kids whom he thought would never believe in him.

Now that he had a small group of believers, he had felt a huge burden lift from his shoulders. He remembered Pitch, even though he had tried so hard not to. Pitch had told him his greatest fear- of not being believed in- and he was glad that it had never been realized. He knew that at least Jamie wouldn't stop believing in him. He was his first believer… His first human friend.

He listened for a minute, but Maleya's breathing had not evened out yet so he knew she was still awake. He continued looking through her books. He knew that books often told a lot about someone. Jamie had all sorts of books on monsters and mysterious animals that may or may not be real. He had gotten a subscription to a monthly magazine from his parents as a birthday present. It featured news and articles about claimed sighting or "proof" of the existence of certain mythical creatures. Jamie would always read the magazine the day it arrived in the mail and would always tell Jack about everything he had read.

Jack saw a rather ornate black spine of a book, covered in red letters. "Complete Collection of Edgar Allen Poe". _Hm, interesting. But not my taste,_ he dismissed. He did not enjoy reading dark, depressing things.

Skimming over her lower shelves, he saw Maleya's true passion come to life. There was a myriad of floras and field guides. Field guides to mammals, birds, arachnids, insects, fish, and many others. She had several textbooks, and he wondered if she had bought them as part of school or if she'd gotten them 'for fun'. The latter thought almost made him cringe, but he knew that it could very well be possible.

Listening again, he realized she had finally fallen asleep. Relaxing a bit, he allowed himself to sit on her desk chair. He rested his staff against the bookshelf and tried to find a title that interested him. He found one that caught his eye, though it seemed old and worn out.

"Funny Stories for Nine Year Olds," he read, smirking slightly. He could see why it was worn- it must've been 8 years old at least. He picked it carefully from the shelf and began flicking through the pages, settling on an interesting short story about balaclavas.

It was almost dawn by the time he put the book back in its original place. He hoped the frost wouldn't ruin it. He had managed a few chuckles while he read the stories. They had been amusing, though a few seemed almost too…adult for children. The jokes had been borderline dirty.

He had to find some more ways to kill time before she woke up. She had a book on her desk that had been opened to a page with a big title that read 'Anthropocentricism'. He had almost rolled his eyes at the big word, and lifted the book gently to read the cover. "The Principles of Conservation Biology."

"Jeez, she is really weird," he muttered to himself. He looked back at the page and noticed she had highlighted something.

"Today, the expression "man and beast" is common, reflecting the anthropocentricism that is so prevalent in society. We separate ourselves from other animals, because we see ourselves as 'superior' to them…" the underlined quote continued, but he didn't continue reading. The sentence was true enough, and his gaze lingered over the sleeping form of the girl he was supposed to watch over.

The Thesan pull was still there, though he had almost grown accustomed to it by now, being in the same room as her for hours. He knew she was something special. Maybe not interesting, but special, and he thought she had the potential to do something good in the world. She seemed quite passionate about life in general.

He almost laughed. She seemed to love life, but she was not full of life herself. It was a sad observation.

She seemed almost flat to himself, and though he had been frustrated at first with having to spend so much time with her, he was now curious. What had made her this way?

In the distance somewhere, an alarm clock began to beep and Jack looked at the clock on Maleya's nightstand to see that it was 6 in the morning.

Jack tensed as he listened to the sounds of people getting up and starting their day. He looked at Maleya's sleeping form but she didn't move. The duvet moved with her chest as she breathed. He remembered then that she wasn't going to school.

He got lost in thought as he continued to stare at her sleeping form. It wasn't until a few minutes later that he was shocked back to reality when the door opened. A man, whom he assumed was her father, stood by the door. He was dressed up in a shirt and black pants. Jack noted he had the same hair colour as Maleya, though his was much shorter and more…controlled.

Her father strolled over to the bed and shook her shoulder gently. Jack frowned, watching as Maleya groggily woke up. _Why was he waking her up_?

"Hey," her father greeted her lightly. Maleya squinted her eyes as she took in her father's face. Some light was coming in from a window whose curtain she'd forgotten to draw. Her head felt heavy, but at least it wasn't aching.

"Morning?" she managed, before yawning and stretching her arms.

"Just wanted to remind you to take your meds," he father said gently, and she managed to pull herself up into a sitting position. In front of her father's watchful eyes, she managed to take her Lamotrigine tablets- all four of them, she thought in irritation- before looking back at her father expectantly.

"Good?" she asked and he nodded, ruffling her already messy hair.

"You take care, then," he said. "I don't know when I'll be home," he admitted, and Maleya's face fell. She had probably missed the only time she could've spent time with him alone for a long while. "Do you have any plans for the weekend?" he asked suddenly, looking at the clock on her nightstand. He still had a few minutes, so he thought he might as well chat.

"Actually…" Maleya began, looking nervously at her father. "I got invited to a party on Saturday. I was wondering if you would let me go and borrow the car- if I feel better, of course."

"Maleya…," her father was about to scold her but she rolled her eyes.

"I won't be drinking, of course. Not when I'll be driving," she said, and when he gave her a long, steady look, she added: "and definitely not with the meds." That seemed to appease him.

"If you feel better, I wouldn't mind," he said, smiling. "As long as you take care of yourself."

"Goes without saying," she muttered, but returned the smile all the same.

"I'll go down for breakfast, then. You can go back to sleep if you want," he told her and she nodded, giving him a quick hug before he stood up.

"Alright, see you later," she said, and he answered her with the same. In a few moments, he had exited her room and closed the door behind him.

Jack watched the scene passively, trying not to move to get either of their attention. He was conscious of the frost that had spread on the chair he was sitting on.

But when the father left without noticing anything and Maleya went back to sleep, he sighed with relief and relaxed a bit. Going back to the bookshelf, he looked through more of the books, before settling on another one to read to pass time.

* * *

**A/N: I am so proud of myself for updating so soon. Hope you got some insight into Maleya and her relationship with her dad (and mom a bit more). I swear it will be cleared up some more soon, especially the situation with her mother.**

**I'm really trying not to rush it with her meeting Jack. But ugh, I can't wait to write that part. (Also, excuse the typos. I read through it a couple of times, but there might be some that I missed).**

**Incidentally, my sleep schedule is fucked up for real now. Went to bed at 1pm and woke up at 1 am. Have to get this shit sorted because I have another 8 hour excursion on Monday morning. Yeaaaaah. **


	9. Chapter 9

Maleya woke up at noon. This didn't surprise her, even though she had slept early and napped the day before. It was quite normal for her to sleep for ages if no one woke her up.

She had about four hours before her brother came home, so she got up and ate breakfast after performing her morning rituals. She was more than slightly peeved that her room was still quite cold. She would have to mention that to her dad. Maybe the heater was broken or something.

Once she was done eating breakfast, which comprised of fruit loops and a hell of a lot of milk, she removed the clean dishes from the dishwasher and put the dirty ones in. She stretched a bit when that was done, still feeling quite heavy from all that sleep. The headache wasn't acting up yet, but she was still feeling a bit feverish and dizzy. She tried not to dwell on it too much.

The next thing she did was fold the clean laundry. She'd gotten the basket from the laundry room and sat on the couch in the living room, watching the news as she folded.

She always made sure to do some sort of housework when she stayed home from school. Her mother already thought she was useless, and she tried her best not to give her any more excuse to chastise and berate her. At least now she'd have something to say in her own defence.

The news was depressing, to say the least. The war in the Middle East, another oil spill, terrorist attacks… She turned it off when she felt too affected and focused solely on getting the task at hand done as soon as possible.

Jack was relieved to see that she was awake. She had slept like a rock. He had been running out of things to do and was about to tear his hair out from boredom. How could someone sleep so much? He had no idea, but he was just glad that the wait was over.

However, seeing her do even more mundane tasks just had him exhale sharply in irritation. Where was the _fun_ in doing dishes and folding clothes? Sure, he had a laugh when he saw her eat Fruit Loops- yet another unexpected thing- but his mood had gone downhill from there.

What was even worse was that she was still in her nightdress. It felt… strange to look at her while she wore it. It almost seemed out of place; a cute, childish dress on someone so adult-like and plain.

Regardless, he stayed close by and checked out the rest of the house while she continued folding clothes. There was nothing to do but get used to his surroundings.

Before long, she had finished and begun heading up to her room. Jack followed, hovering off the ground and making sure not to touch the railings. He was a few steps behind her.

When she made it to her room, she began pulling off her nightdress. Jack had been at her doorway by then, and quickly turned around, crying loudly. He had not been expected that, but thankfully he had turned around just in time.

He heard plenty of shuffling and swearing behind him, but he wasn't ready to turn around then. It wasn't until he felt the familiar pang of pain that he realized she had walked through him. He felt something akin to fire blaze through his body momentarily, and it took him a few seconds to catch his breath. She could pull out such a strange reaction from him, he worried if he'd ever get used to it.

Following her down the stairs, he saw she was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a red and black flannel shirt. She was holding her keys in one hand, and he figured she was going out for a walk. Intrigued, he followed her.

She'd lit a cigarette before the front door even closed. He shook his head, lecturing her out loud on the health effects of smoking, though he knew she couldn't hear him.

She locked the door with a free hand and put her key away in her pocket.

"Fucking _cold_!" she hissed for what felt like the umpteenth time that week. She hadn't gotten a jacket with her. It looked sunny and warm outside, but of course, she misjudged again and she was too lazy to go back inside and get something warmer. She pulled on her sneakers and made her way to the forest.

She wasn't one to believe in ghosts, but she had been feeling strange in her own home lately, like she was being watched. It might have been paranoia- another side effect of one of her pills, but then she started stumbling upon "cold spots". She knew what they were. She'd read about them in books, and though she didn't believe, she felt almost panicky and wanted to get out of the house. She needed to clear her mind, anyway.

Unconsciously, she began searching for tracks in the mud as soon as she got in the forest. Jack watched her, idly strolling beside her while he randomly frosted over leaves and trunks of different trees. Eventually getting even more bored, he beckoned for the wind to take him up to the tree canopy, where he followed Maleya at a leisurely pace, gliding from tree to tree.

She spent three hours outside. _Three hours_. And while he saw that she'd enjoyed herself, he was only feeling more and more frustrated. This new "mission" of his felt constricting and he didn't know how long it would take before he lost it and complained to North. It wasn't _fair_ that Bunny and he had been stuck with this mundane task. He almost wished he hadn't sent Baby Tooth away so he could go say hello to Jamie and his friends at school.

Maleya was heading home, after spending far too much time studying some animal tracks than Jack would have liked. However, while he lazily hovered from branch to branch, he caught site of two perked up ears down below.

"Bunny!" Jack cried, almost excited at the sight of the nervous rabbit. On cue, Bunny jumped slightly, caught off guard by Jack's voice.

"There you are, ya bloke! Was worried you left the gal to walk on her own," Bunny greeted in an almost scornful tone, keeping an eye on Maleya.

"Nope, I've been doing my job," He grinned widely, walking with Bunny a few steps behind the girl.

"Listen, kid. I'm having some trouble back at the Warren. The plants are doing so good, so I was wondering if you could do a double shift?" Bunny asked, and Jack thought he'd dislocated his jaw from opening it so much.

"What?!" He screeched. "Another two days? With _her_?" He asked, pointing his staff at the girl's direction. She was puffing on her sixth cigarette.

"What's the problem?" Bunny asked, raising an eyebrow at him and then looking back at Maleya.

"I'm going to rip my hair out in boredom! She sleeps all day and then does nothing _fun_! I don't think I can stand my own shift, let alone taking one of yours!" He complained, but Bunny shrugged.

"Sorry, lad. It's for a good cause. Plus, I can take a double when things settle down," he looked around suddenly. "Crikey! I'm surprised you haven't had a snowstorm hit this place yet!"

That made Jack's ears perk.

"A snowstorm?" he said, suddenly in deep thought.

"Oh, no, mate. Don't even go the-" Bunny started, but the idea had already taken root in Jack's head.

"She _does_ hate the cold. And it would be a way for me to have fun…" Jack mumbled to himself, and Bunny rolled his eyes.

"I will not clean up any mess that you make! You're on your own, mate. And I pray for her sake you won't do something stupid!" And with that, he tapped his foot. "Thanks, though!" he said quickly, before jumping into the whole.

Jack sighed.

Then he saw that Maleya was almost out of site and scrambled to catch up to her, worried Bunnymund was somehow still keeping an eye on him.

Maleya was relieved to find that David was still on his way home when she got back. She caught sight of him walking down the street, his green backpack on his back.

"David!" She yelled, waving at him. He stopped when he heard his name and broke out into a huge grin when he saw her.

"Hey, Mallie!" He greeted, coming over to meet her. They met half-way across the lawn, but he froze when he saw the person behind her.

Jack Frost didn't know how to get out of this one, so he just smiled knowingly and put a finger to his lips. "Hey, David,' he greeted, looking at the kid.

David's eyes grew to the size of plates, and Mallie whipped around to see what he was looking at. There was nothing there.

"What is it, David?" She asked, turned back to look at him.

"Nothing!" he said quickly, and Mallie raised an eyebrow. She didn't believe him, but she'd let it slide.

For now.

"Aw, the tooth fairy isn't here!" David frowned, looking around the place.

"That was Baby Tooth," Jack tried to explain, just as Maleya said: "I'm sure she'll be back." Jack nodded at her statement.

"I'm starving!" David suddenly cried, grabbing one of Maleya's hands and dragging her towards the house. Maleya complied, following him to the front door. While she took out the key to unlock the door, David took a few steps back before he whispered: "You're Jack Frost, aren't you?" Jack nodded in reply, and then grinned when he saw the look of pure joy on his face. He knew the kid was bursting to scream, but he tried to swallow his happiness down and then asked: "Mallie can't see you?"

He almost sounded sad, but Jack shook his head. "No. She doesn't believe," he said quietly, almost as though he was afraid Maleya would hear him, too.

"David?" Maleya's voice piped up from beyond the living room. She was in the kitchen. David hurried inside and when Jack was in, too, he closed the door and put down his backpack.

"How was school?" Maleya asked as she warmed some leftovers from last night. She realized she was a bit hungry as well, so she put a smaller serving on a different plate, ready to be heated up.

David helped set the table. "It was alright," he said, rather unenthusiastically. "Not as good as yesterday. And math is so boring! I hate math!" he suddenly explained, and Maleya smiled at him with understanding.

"I know, honey. I hate it, too. I almost feel bad when I know you'll have to study the same things I am when you're in my grade," she said, before turning to the microwave to take out his food.

The statement made David frown so much she almost couldn't see his eyes from under his eyebrows. In an instant, however, his expression was replaced with a grin.

"I saw Jamie, though! And we walked home from school together!" He said, sitting down as Maleya put his plate in front of him. She put her own dish in the microwave.

"Really? Are you guys going to hang out today?"

"I was gonna ask you if it was okay. Can I, Mallie? Pleaaaase?" he pleaded, and she laughed lightly.

"Of course you can. His place or ours?" she asked, and he played with his spaghetti using a fork.

"I was sort of thinking I could go there…?" he turned his sentence into a question at the end, and she nodded.

"That's fine. Should I come with, or will Mrs Bennett be there?" she asked, and David shook his head.

"Mrs Bennett is home so you don't need to!" he said quickly through a mouth full of spaghetti.

"Aw, Dave! Don't talk with your mouth open! It's gross!" Though she was scolding him, her tone was playful and she was even trying not to laugh at him. She set her now warmed plate of spaghetti on the table and sat in front of him.

"And we were thinking about going out to look for flying toads this weekend! Jamie said he read that we were pretty close to where a man saw them! It said so in his magazine!"

"That sounds like fun. And if you're up for it, I wouldn't mind taking you guys out for a hike on Sunday," Maleya offered, and Dave smiled up at her.

"Really?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah, sure! I wouldn't mind that at all," she repeated, and he beamed at her.

"That would be awesome! I don't think mommy or Jamie's mom would be happy with us going too far in the forest otherwise," he said, and Maleya nodded.

"No, I wouldn't think so, either," she agreed, finishing her small portion quite easily. She felt much better today than she did yesterday, and she was happy that she had at least some kind of appetite today.

The meal continued with anticipation high in the air. Maleya was looking forward to some quiet hours alone in the house while David could not wait to hang out with Jamie.

Maleya insisted on cleaning up after they ate and gave David permission to go wash up and get ready to head to Jamie's. David did not protest at all and scrambled to get ready before heading out. She saw him pause for a few minutes by the door, but a few moments later he yelled his goodbyes and slammed the door accidentally with his enthusiasm.

Maleya sighed with relief before heading upstairs to her bedroom. She pulled on her warmest jumped- which was a deep maroon- and then grabbed a blanket from her closet.

Jack was close behind, watching her. David, her brother, had stopped before going to Jamie's and asked if he'd be staying for a while. Once Jack had assured him he would without delving into details about why, the kid had left and Jack wished with all his being that he could join them. It would have been much more fun that sitting around and watch Maleya study.

When Melaya went to sit on her balcony after cleaning up the kitchen, with a thick book and some freshly burning coal on her water pipe, Jack took his chance.

Since the kids were playing outside on Jamie's backyard, he could spend time with them while Melaya was consumed with her reading.

Jamie had welcomed him with a surprised shout of glee. Abby was running wild in the background, picking up toys and dropping them randomly, only to pick something else up. Little Sophie was indoors taking a nap, having had a long day at her nursery.

"I can't believe it's really Jack Frost!" David had exclaimed. Jamie had grinned at him knowingly.

"Of course, it is! I told you he was real didn't I?"

Jack felt a wave of joy wash over him at the prospect of having met another believer. Sure, he could still count his believers on his hands, but at least they were growing in number. He could already feel a new surge of power rush through his body- the good side of being a Guardian.

"But, wait-" David suddenly frowned. "How come you and um… Baby Tooth, was it?" At a nod from Jack, he continued. "How come you're both hanging around my place so much?" David asked.

Jamie looked from David to Jack questioningly.

"Well, see, David… It hasn't just been us. Bunny's been around a bit, too," Jack began, smiling at the kid. "We've been given a mission. The details are a bit fuzzy, but we're supposed to watch over your sister?"

"What, like a personal Guardian?" Jamie asked in disbelief. "That's no fair! I want that, too!" He complained, which made Jack laugh.

"Think of it this way: I get to spend more time hanging out with you, don't I?" Jack said, hoping Jamie wasn't too upset over not having a "personal Guardian".

"Yeah, you're right," Jamie said gleefully, throwing a ball which Abby ran to bring back. "That's pretty cool, too!"

"I can't believe it! Will I get to see Bunny too?" He asked, looking at Jack.

"Probably. But I wouldn't get so excited about that. He's not all that great," Jack replied playfully and Jamie rolled his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure Sophie thinks so," Jamie said quietly, throwing a ball towards David, who caught it without thinking. "So what's so special about Mallie that she needs _three_ guardians?"

Jack smiled at Jamie's tone. Years of reading crypto-zoological magazines had given him some sort of "know-it-all" attitude that he'd often used when trying to defend his claims. He proceeded to tell them about the Thesan theory. He didn't think North would mind, since he hadn't mentioned anything about keeping the theory quiet.

It was a lot to digest for the boys, who didn't really know what to make of it. How could Mallie- _especially Mallie_- be someone important like that? Eventually, Jamie promised to help Jack in whatever way he could.

"Well, getting her to believe would be helpful," Jack noted, more to himself. "I don't really know how she can help us if she doesn't even know we exist."

Jamie and David shared a look, before grinning at the Guardian. "I'm sure we can help you out with that!" David told him, grinning wide. Jack thought he could almost see mischief in the glint of the boy's eyes.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, liking the sound of this.

"Yeah!" Jamie replied enthusiastically. "Though I can't think of something right now, I'll come up with a plan for you," he replied methodologically.

"You should freak her out!" David laughed. "Leave little frost notes for her. I'm sure it'll drive her crazy!"

Jack laughed as well. "I don't think it would make her believe though. She'd just turn extremely paranoid."

And so, the next two hours were spent with them trying to hatch a plan to get Maleya to believe in him. Jack made sure to keep an eye out on her, just in case she decided to go back inside. Eventually, she did, and Jack had to bid his Jamie and his new believer goodbye.

* * *

**A/N: Jesus, sorry it took so long to update. Finished school last week and boyfriend came to visit from France (haven't seen him in 3 months...). It's currently 6:15 am and I've been doing laundry since 2 =D. I'm heading off to Berlin on Sunday and won't be back till the 26th, so I figured I'd update now since I won't be able to for a while. **

**Hope this chapter was worth the wait. A lot's gonna happen in the next chapter, I can tell you that ;] Please do review! I love hearing your opinions. I know there's a lot of questions to be answered, but I'm trying to take my time with everything! Big hugs!**


	10. Chapter 10

Maleya woke up at noon. This didn't surprise her, even though she had slept early and napped the day before. It was quite normal for her to sleep for ages if no one woke her up.

She had about four hours before her brother came home, so she got up and ate breakfast after performing her morning rituals. She was more than slightly peeved that her room was still quite cold. She would have to mention that to her dad. Maybe the heater was broken or something.

Once she was done eating breakfast, which comprised of fruit loops and a hell of a lot of milk, she removed the clean dishes from the dishwasher and put the dirty ones in. She stretched a bit when that was done, still feeling quite heavy from all that sleep. The headache wasn't acting up yet, but she was still feeling a bit feverish and dizzy. She tried not to dwell on it too much.

The next thing she did was fold the clean laundry. She'd gotten the basket from the laundry room and sat on the couch in the living room, watching the news as she folded.

She always made sure to do some sort of housework when she stayed home from school. Her mother already thought she was useless, and she tried her best not to give her any more excuse to chastise and berate her. At least now she'd have something to say in her own defence.

The news was depressing, to say the least. The war in the Middle East, another oil spill, terrorist attacks… She turned it off when she felt too affected and focused solely on getting the task at hand done as soon as possible.

Jack was relieved to see that she was awake. She had slept like a rock. He had been running out of things to do and was about to tear his hair out from boredom. How could someone sleep so much? He had no idea, but he was just glad that the wait was over.

However, seeing her do even more mundane tasks just had him exhale sharply in irritation. Where was the _fun_ in doing dishes and folding clothes? Sure, he had a laugh when he saw her eat Fruit Loops- yet another unexpected thing- but his mood had gone downhill from there.

What was even worse was that she was still in her nightdress. It felt… strange to look at her while she wore it. It almost seemed out of place; a cute, childish dress on someone so adult-like and plain.

Regardless, he stayed close by and checked out the rest of the house while she continued folding clothes. There was nothing to do but get used to his surroundings.

Before long, she had finished and begun heading up to her room. Jack followed, hovering off the ground and making sure not to touch the railings. He was a few steps behind her.

When she made it to her room, she began pulling off her nightdress. Jack had been at her doorway by then, and quickly turned around, crying loudly. He had not been expecting that, but thankfully he had turned around just in time.

He heard plenty of shuffling and swearing behind him, but he wasn't ready to turn around then. It wasn't until he felt the familiar pang of pain that he realized she had walked through him. He felt something akin to fire blaze through his body momentarily, and it took him a few seconds to catch his breath. She could pull out such a strange reaction from him, he worried if he'd ever get used to it.

Following her down the stairs, he saw she was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a red and black flannel shirt. She was holding her keys in one hand, and he figured she was going out for a walk. Intrigued, he followed her.

She'd lit a cigarette before the front door even closed. He shook his head, lecturing her out loud on the health effects of smoking, though he knew she couldn't hear him.

She locked the door with a free hand and put her key away in her pocket.

"Fucking _cold_!" she hissed for what felt like the umpteenth time that week. She hadn't gotten a jacket with her. It looked sunny and warm outside, but of course, she misjudged again and she was too lazy to go back inside and get something warmer. She pulled on her sneakers and made her way to the forest.

She wasn't one to believe in ghosts, but she had been feeling strange in her own home lately, like she was being watched. It might have been paranoia- another side effect of one of her pills, but then she started stumbling upon "cold spots". She knew what they were. She'd read about them in books, and though she didn't believe, she felt almost panicky and wanted to get out of the house. She needed to clear her mind, anyway.

Unconsciously, she began searching for tracks in the mud as soon as she got in the forest. Jack watched her, idly strolling beside her while he randomly frosted over leaves and trunks of different trees. Eventually getting even more bored, he beckoned for the wind to take him up to the tree canopy, where he followed Maleya at a leisurely pace, gliding from tree to tree.

She spent three hours outside. _Three hours_. And while he saw that she'd enjoyed herself, he was only feeling more and more frustrated. This new "mission" of his felt constricting and he didn't know how long it would take before he lost it and complained to North. It wasn't _fair_ that Bunny and he had been stuck with this mundane task. He almost wished he hadn't sent Baby Tooth away so he could go say hello to Jamie and his friends at school.

Maleya was heading home, after spending far too much time studying some animal tracks than Jack would have liked. However, while he lazily hovered from branch to branch, he caught site of two perked up ears down below.

"Bunny!" Jack cried, almost excited at the sight of the nervous rabbit. On cue, Bunny jumped slightly, caught off guard by Jack's voice.

"There you are, ya bloke! Was worried you left the gal to walk on her own," Bunny greeted in an almost scornful tone, keeping an eye on Maleya.

"Nope, I've been doing my job," He grinned widely, walking with Bunny a few steps behind the girl.

"Listen, kid. I'm having some trouble back at the Warren. The plants are doing no good, so I was wondering if you could do a double shift?" Bunny asked, and Jack thought he'd dislocated his jaw from opening it so much.

"What?!" He screeched. "Another two days? With _her_?" He asked, pointing his staff at the girl's direction. She was puffing on her sixth cigarette.

"What's the problem?" Bunny asked, raising an eyebrow at him and then looking back at Maleya.

"I'm going to rip my hair out in boredom! She sleeps all day and then does nothing _fun_! I don't think I can stand my own shift, let alone taking one of yours!" He complained, but Bunny shrugged.

"Sorry, lad. It's for a good cause. Plus, I can take a double when things settle down," he looked around suddenly. "Crikey! I'm surprised you haven't had a snowstorm hit this place yet!"

That made Jack's ears perk.

"A snowstorm?" he said, suddenly in deep thought.

"Oh, no, mate. Don't even go the-" Bunny started, but the idea had already taken root in Jack's head.

"She _does_ hate the cold. And it would be a way for me to have fun…" Jack mumbled to himself, and Bunny rolled his eyes.

"I will not clean up any mess that you make! You're on your own, mate. And I pray for her sake you won't do something stupid!" And with that, he tapped his foot. "Thanks, though!" he said quickly, before jumping into the whole.

Jack sighed.

Then he saw that Maleya was almost out of site and scrambled to catch up to her, worried Bunnymund was somehow still keeping an eye on him.

* * *

Maleya was relieved to find that David was still on his way home when she got back. She caught sight of him walking down the street, his green backpack on his back.

"David!" She yelled, waving at him. He stopped when he heard his name and broke out into a huge grin when he saw her.

"Hey, Mallie!" He greeted, coming over to meet her. They met half-way across the lawn, but he froze when he saw the person behind her.

Jack Frost didn't know how to get out of this one, so he just smiled knowingly and put a finger to his lips. "Hey, David,' he greeted, looking at the kid.

David's eyes grew to the size of plates, and Mallie whipped around to see what he was looking at. There was nothing there.

"What is it, David?" She asked, turned back to look at him.

"Nothing!" he said quickly, and Mallie raised an eyebrow. She didn't believe him, but she'd let it slide.

For now.

"Aw, the tooth fairy isn't here!" David frowned, looking around the place.

"That was Baby Tooth," Jack tried to explain, just as Maleya said: "I'm sure she'll be back." Jack nodded at her statement.

"I'm starving!" David suddenly cried, grabbing one of Maleya's hands and dragging her towards the house. Maleya complied, following him to the front door. While she took out the key to unlock the door, David took a few steps back before he whispered: "You're Jack Frost, aren't you?" Jack nodded in reply, and then grinned when he saw the look of pure joy on his face. He knew the kid was bursting to scream, but he tried to swallow his happiness down and then asked: "Mallie can't see you?"

He almost sounded sad, but Jack shook his head. "No. She doesn't believe," he said quietly, almost as though he was afraid Maleya would hear him, too.

"David?" Maleya's voice piped up from beyond the living room. She was in the kitchen. David hurried inside and when Jack was in, too, he closed the door and put down his backpack.

"How was school?" Maleya asked as she warmed some leftovers from last night. She realized she was a bit hungry as well, so she put a smaller serving on a different plate, ready to be heated up.

David helped set the table. "It was alright," he said, rather unenthusiastically. "Not as good as yesterday. And math is so boring! I hate math!" he suddenly explained, and Maleya smiled at him with understanding.

"I know, honey. I hate it, too. I almost feel bad when I know you'll have to study the same things I am when you're in my grade," she said, before turning to the microwave to take out his food.

The statement made David frown so much she almost couldn't see his eyes from under his eyebrows. In an instant, however, his expression was replaced with a grin.

"I saw Jamie, though! And we walked home from school together!" He said, sitting down as Maleya put his plate in front of him. She put her own dish in the microwave.

"Really? Are you guys going to hang out today?"

"I was gonna ask you if it was okay. Can I, Mallie? Pleaaaase?" he pleaded, and she laughed lightly.

"Of course you can. His place or ours?" she asked, and he played with his spaghetti using a fork.

"I was sort of thinking I could go there…?" he turned his sentence into a question at the end, and she nodded.

"That's fine. Should I come with, or will Mrs Bennett be there?" she asked, and David shook his head.

"Mrs Bennett is home so you don't need to!" he said quickly through a mouth full of spaghetti.

"Aw, Dave! Don't talk with your mouth open! It's gross!" Though she was scolding him, her tone was playful and she was even trying not to laugh at him. She set her now warmed plate of spaghetti on the table and sat in front of him.

"And we were thinking about going out to look for flying toads this weekend! Jamie said he read that we were pretty close to where a man saw them! It said so in his magazine!"

"That sounds like fun. And if you're up for it, I wouldn't mind taking you guys out for a hike on Sunday," Maleya offered, and Dave smiled up at her.

"Really?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah, sure! I wouldn't mind that at all," she repeated, and he beamed at her.

"That would be awesome! I don't think mommy or Jamie's mom would be happy with us going too far in the forest otherwise," he said, and Maleya nodded.

"No, I wouldn't think so, either," she agreed, finishing her small portion quite easily. She felt much better today than she did yesterday, and she was happy that she had at least some kind of appetite today.

The meal continued with anticipation high in the air. Maleya was looking forward to some quiet hours alone in the house while David could not wait to hang out with Jamie.

Maleya insisted on cleaning up after they ate and gave David permission to go wash up and get ready to head to Jamie's. David did not protest at all and scrambled to get ready before heading out. She saw him pause for a few minutes by the door, but a few moments later he yelled his goodbyes and slammed the door accidentally with his enthusiasm.

Maleya sighed with relief before heading upstairs to her bedroom. She pulled on her warmest jumped- which was a deep maroon- and then grabbed a blanket from her closet.

Jack was close behind, watching her. David, her brother, had stopped before going to Jamie's and asked if he'd be staying for a while. Once Jack had assured him he would without delving into details about why, the kid had left and Jack wished with all his being that he could join them. It would have been much more fun that sitting around and watch Maleya study.

When Melaya went to sit on her balcony after cleaning up the kitchen, with a thick book and some freshly burning coal on her water pipe, Jack took his chance.

Since the kids were playing outside on Jamie's backyard, he could spend time with them while Melaya was consumed with her reading.

Jamie had welcomed him with a surprised shout of glee. Abby was running wild in the background, picking up toys and dropping them randomly, only to pick something else up. Little Sophie was indoors taking a nap, having had a long day at her nursery.

"I can't believe it's really Jack Frost!" David had exclaimed. Jamie had grinned at him knowingly.

"Of course, it is! I told you he was real didn't I?"

Jack felt a wave of joy wash over him at the prospect of having met another believer. Sure, he could still count his believers on his hands, but at least they were growing in number. He could already feel a new surge of power rush through his body- the good side of being a Guardian.

"But, wait-" David suddenly frowned. "How come you and um… Baby Tooth, was it?" At a nod from Jack, he continued. "How come you're both hanging around my place so much?" David asked.

Jamie looked from David to Jack questioningly.

"Well, see, David… It hasn't just been us. Bunny's been around a bit, too," Jack began, smiling at the kid. "We've been given a mission. The details are a bit fuzzy, but we're supposed to watch over your sister."

"What, like a personal Guardian?" Jamie asked in disbelief. "That's no fair! I want that, too!" He complained, which made Jack laugh.

"Think of it this way: I get to spend more time hanging out with you, don't I?" Jack said, hoping Jamie wasn't too upset over not having a "personal Guardian".

"Yeah, you're right," Jamie said gleefully, throwing a ball which Abby ran to bring back. "That's pretty cool, too!"

"I can't believe it! Will I get to see Bunny too?" He asked, looking at Jack.

"Probably. But I wouldn't get so excited about that. He's not all that great," Jack replied playfully and Jamie rolled his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure Sophie thinks so," Jamie said quietly, throwing a ball towards David, who caught it without thinking. "So what's so special about Mallie that she needs _three_ guardians?"

Jack smiled at Jamie's tone. Years of reading crypto-zoological magazines had given him some sort of "know-it-all" attitude that he'd often used when trying to defend his claims. He proceeded to tell them about the Thesan theory. He didn't think North would mind, since he hadn't mentioned anything about keeping the theory quiet.

It was a lot to digest for the boys, who didn't really know what to make of it. How could Mallie- _especially Mallie_- be someone important like that? Eventually, Jamie promised to help Jack in whatever way he could.

"Well, getting her to believe would be helpful," Jack noted, more to himself. "I don't really know how she can help us if she doesn't even know we exist."

Jamie and David shared a look, before grinning at the Guardian. "I'm sure we can help you out with that!" David told him, grinning wide. Jack thought he could almost see mischief in the glint of the boy's eyes.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, liking the sound of this.

"Yeah!" Jamie replied enthusiastically. "Though I can't think of something right now, I'll come up with a plan for you," he replied methodologically.

"You should freak her out!" David laughed. "Leave little frost notes for her. I'm sure it'll drive her crazy!"

Jack laughed as well. "I don't think it would make her believe though. She'd just turn extremely paranoid."

And so, the next two hours were spent with them trying to hatch a plan to get Maleya to believe in him. Jack made sure to keep an eye out on her, just in case she decided to go back inside. Eventually, she did, and Jack had to bid his friends goodbye.

* * *

Saturday came by after an uneventful end to the school week. Maleya felt unrested and heavy-hearted, but she also felt like she should go to Holly's party. It was a chance to change the ambiance and potentially make new friends (and perhaps get to know a few of the good looking guys that she'd ogled at in the school hallways).

Her mother had spent most of the day with David, taking care of him and taking him out to the mall while her father worked. Maleya felt almost lucky to have so much time and space to herself. She reveled in it until she decided it was time to get ready.

Jack sat cross-legged on the ground in the corner of Maleya's room, glaring holes at the carpeted floor. He felt like he was going crazy. He'd had some fun last night making a bucket full of snow fall unexpectedly on the unsuspecting girl when she'd gone out for a smoke last night, but her constant swearing for the next two hours had dampened his mood. David was a fun kid to hang around with, but today he was busy spending quality time with his mother.

So Jack Frost- the guardian of fun- found himself alone in a house with possibly the most boring girl in the world.

Whoop-dee-flipping-doo.

He realized how hard it was to keep himself from adopting Maleya's habit of using bad language. But being a guardian for children, he made sure to spend extra amounts of focus to make sure she didn't rub off on him that way.

The carpet was spared from his horrific glaring by a tug on his shoulder. Surprised, Jack looked up to see Baby Tooth grinning at him.

"Baby Tooth!" Jack gasped. "I'm so happy you're here! You have to save me, please! This boredom is _killing_ me!"

Baby Tooth's grin faded and she deadpanned him, bemused. Another game of charade ensued as Jack watched Maleya prepare herself from the corner of his eyes. She'd (thankfully?) gone into the bathroom to change and had come out to use the mirror in her room to put on her make up. The precision of Maleya's make-up application almost made him lose focus on what Baby Tooth was trying to pantomime. This was not lost on Baby Tooth, who gave him a knowing look.

"What?" he asked her, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze. She wiggled her eyebrows, and then switched back to serious mode, motioning for him to repeat her message.

"You'll accompany her to the party?" He guess weakly, not really believing it. But, apparently, this was so. Baby Tooth was going to spare him the dread of spending time at a party full of people no doubt similar to the Thesan. Apparently, Toothiana knew he'd be having a hard time. "Really?" he asked, his mood shooting up like a rocket. That meant he could spend more time doing fun things! Like planning the onslaught of a snow storm with Jamie!

Baby Tooth wagged her finger at Jack, warning him of being vigilant despite the break she was offering him, and Jack grinned at her with relief.

"Of course, Baby Tooth! I'll be right here and ready for business as soon as you're back!"

Behind them, Maleya was looking at her reflection. She'd chosen to wear a short black dress with leggings underneath (she felt it was suicide to bare her legs in this weather) and was mulling over whether to wear red lipstick or stick to regular gloss.

"She really looks different all dressed up, doesn't she?" Jack noted to Baby Tooth and she nodded, flying up to Maleya and circling around her in admiration. Baby Tooth kept pointing at the red lipstick, but Maleya was- as Jack seemed to be repeating in his head like a mantra- boring and had gone for the safer option of lipgloss.

"Keep an eye out for her and make sure she doesn't drink, okay, Baby Tooth?" Jack cautioned, and Baby Tooth rolled her eyes, nodding as if to say "_Obviously._"

Another half an hour passed before Maleya had given up trying to tame her ferocious locks and decided to simply pin some of it the side (using an army of thick bobby pins). She picked up a matching black purse and grabbed a pair of similar-coloured heels before bounding down the stairs, two at a time.

Jack and Baby Tooth followed her at a more leisurely pace.

Though her expression remained indifferent, Jack could already tell that the little dress-up Maleya had gone through had done wonders on her mood. She seemed almost… _excited_.

The jangling of keys confirmed that Maleya had picked up both the car keys and her set of house keys and was putting on her leather jacket as she made her way out the front door.

"A tout!" Maleya called to no one in particular as she closed and locked the front door, Baby Tooth and Jack managing to slip out onto the porch at the last second.

"Have fun, girls!" Jack called back as Maleya slipped into the car, Baby Tooth buzzing around her- still upset about her not choosing the red lipstick.

As the car pulled out of the driveway, Jack looked at the Bennett's household and saw that some lights were still on. With a huge grin plastered onto his face, he anticipated the hours he had to spend time with Jamie. Maybe his first believer wouldn't hate him all too much if he played a prank on him, too…

* * *

**A/N: Sweet jesus, so sorry for the late update. Have had a pretty crazy summer (not all in a good way, but well...) Here's an update anyway! Hope you guys enjoy it, and please feel free to give me feedback. I can't wait to type up the next one, cause some major ideas of mine will fall into place and a few things will be explained (I hope). I had intended to do some of that in this chapter, but well... it got kind of long and I'm sure you guys have been waiting. Big hugs from rainy Sweden!**


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